Coded
by Wonderlalaland
Summary: A love story between Sasha Gavrik and an MI5 agent.
1. Chapter One

**A/N: I loved the character of Sasha in series 10 but I felt he was under-appreciated in the fandom as I've struggled to find many stories with him in. So I decided to change that by writing this fanfic!**

**I should probably explain that it is set after the last episode, however, under the assumption that there was a very different ending. I have chosen Ruth to survive (yay) and her and Harry to be together (obvs). Sasha never shot her, nor did it turn out that he was not Harry's biological son. So there are some lovely father-son bonding moments between Sasha and Harry throughout! Also, Tariq is still alive (yayay). In this version of events Sasha's mother has returned to Russia with Ilya but Sasha has remained in the UK, still working for the FSB at its London base. The plot focusses on Sasha's relationship with an agent in MI5's section D called Emma, who is my creation entirely. **

**It's all a bit far-fetched and fluffy but I hope you enjoy. I've written quite a lot of this story already but I'll see the reaction I get from this first chapter before I upload any more.**

**Disclaimer: All rights to the BBC and Kudos, etc. They own all the characters with the exception Emma.**

**Chapter One**

Her fingers twisted around the toggles of his hoody absent-mindedly as her head rested delicately on his broad shoulder. Her free hand brushed his neck. Her nose breathed in the lingering smell of his aftershave as his face nuzzled into her scalp. His right arm held onto her waist, securely but not too tight, whilst his other arm rested on his lap. Her legs were tucked up behind her as she leant into him. It was so easy, so easy for them to be content together.

It was a Saturday night and for the first night in weeks, neither Sasha nor Emma was working. Instead of using their rare free evening to go out, the couple, exhausted and somewhat reluctant to engage in any more social functions after the results of the previous ones that they had attended whilst working, opted for a night on the sofa with a takeaway, a bottle of red and The X Factor.

"I can't believe you're making me watch this shit!" Sasha had retorted after the first act of the show was half way through their song. But, thirty minutes into the programme and he was undeniably engrossed, as Emma had promised he would be.

The last act to perform was receiving their critiques from the judges when the pair had finished their meal and began canoodling on the couch. Sasha, being the red-blooded male he was, was hoping for something a little bit more than cuddling later on though. So, when the adverts began, he felt prompted to try his chances. He gently began moving his hand that was wrapped around his girlfriend up and down, expertly lifting her top up gradually as he did so. He then tilted her head up towards him so that her eyes gazed into his. He placed a delicate kiss on her mouth, moved away briefly to stare into her eyes once more before allowing his lips to return to hers, this time lingering there for much longer. He kissed her passionately and pulled her torso closer into his body. Her arms clung onto his neck as her legs moved to wrap around his waist. He carefully lowered her down so she could lie on the sofa, kissing her lustfully as he carried out the maneuver. As he pushed down on her to caress her lips, she arched her back in order to maximise the contact between them. He felt her breasts press closely against him; teasing him, making him want her even more. One of his hands began sliding down her stomach, edging towards the waistband of her trousers. Just as he was blindly unzipping them, and her hands were making their down to his jogging bottoms, the phone started to ring. It was Emma's work phone. They both knew what was coming.

"Leave it…" Sasha pleaded as Emma's hand reached out behind her, fumbling for the ringing object on the coffee table.

"But it might be important," Emma tried, as she began breaking away from him.

Sasha saw his night of passion slipping away from him before his eyes, and in attempt to claw it back he argued: "You've been working too much recently. Harry can manage without you tonight, whereas I cannot."

The continuously ringing mobile phone suggested otherwise. Emma, ignoring Sasha's pleas, eventually got hold of her phone and managed a muffled: "Hello?" as Sasha persisted in kissing her.

"Emma, you need to come in; we have an emergency," her boss hurriedly told her.

"Well, it better be, Harry, because this is my first night off in ages," Emma told him, angry that her blissful evening had been rudely interrupted.

"I just got a red-flash from Six saying that one of our most-wanted has just entered the country and there's intel suggesting that he's planning an attack to be carried out tomorrow at a location yet to be discovered. Is that enough of an emergency for you?" Harry explained in his characteristically calm-yet-unnervingly-dramatic tone that his colleagues were so familiar with.

"Mmmm," was all Emma could manage in response, due to Sasha's tongue occupying her mouth at that moment in time.

"Emma, as much as I am grateful for your ability to remain so composed in times of such urgency, I wonder, are you preoccupied currently?" Harry asked, just loudly enough for Sasha to pick up on too.

Before Emma had a chance to answer, Sasha withdrew his lips from her mouth and snatched the phone from her hands in an instant, displaying his sharp moves earned from an FSB career.

"Yes Father, she is indeed preoccupied, with me. And we were having a lovely time until your phone call came along and spoilt it all. So if you could be so kind as to let us finish what we started then it would be much appreciated," Sasha told Harry.

Emma gasped, mortified at her boyfriend's words. Sasha, however, grinned broadly. Harry let out a sigh. Ruth, who was listening to the call on speaker phone in the office, chuckled softly.

"Well, as sorry as I am to have to put a premature end to your…fornicating, I really rather think a matter of national emergency takes precedence right now. So, I shall send Dimitri round to pick Emma up and bring her to The Grid. And seeing as Anglo-Russian relations are blossoming so wonderfully at the moment, you may as well join us on this operation and come along too. We could do with an extra pair of hands after all. For, I wouldn't want to get in the way of love young's dream by separating the pair of you. But, just make sure those extra pair of hands do not wander when you get here. That will be all," Harry ended the conversation abruptly, not waiting for his son's reply.

"You're so sexy when you're stern," Ruth told Harry as he placed the phone down.

"Oh, don't you start as well. I'd like to think at least one male on this operation won't be completely blinded by lust," he told her, possibly joking, possibly not, she couldn't tell.


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: So as a result of the 2 encouraging reviews I received for the last chapter, I've decided to upload the next one. In response to _VelocityGirl1980_, I hadn't actually considered writing about the details of how the relationship between Sasha and Emma came about, but this is perhaps something I may explore later in the story, or even in a prequel perhaps.**

**I am glad I had already written this chapter as last night I cut my finger whilst chopping onions and ended up in hospital to get a dressing put on it, so typing is rather a challenge at the moment! Anyway, without further ado, here it is...**

**Chapter Two**

"Well done Sasha. You were good today. A real asset to the team," Harry told his son genuinely, whom he had asked to join him in his office after the debriefing.

"Glad my extra pair of hands could be of assistance," Sasha replied, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Indeed," Harry said. He then paused before proceeding with his proposition. "I know we didn't hit it off when we first met, what with the circumstances that we were faced with. But I'm glad we have reached a stage in our relationship that is almost, dare I say, bordering on father-son territory. Moreover, I am especially glad that we are even able to work together, and very well, as was proven today. It's made me wonder whether perhaps you would ever consider becoming a more regular presence on my team."

"Wait a minute, are you actually suggesting that, I, a Russian spy should openly work for MI5, permanently?" Sasha asked, astounded.

"I know it sounds a little far-fetched, but I believe it's doable," Harry told him. "As I have been told many times, The Cold War is well and truly over. Anglo-Russian relations are at an all-time high and I might actually be beginning to believe that our countries may truly be on their way to making amends and working together. Besides, you are half-British after all, and once you get a permanent citizenship for over here, as I understand you are planning to do, then there really would be nothing standing in the way."

"Apart from the distinct possibility that my friends at The Kremlin will think I'm going to give away all of their secrets and will take it upon themselves to prevent me from doing so," Sasha added.

"He may not be your biological father, but we both we know he still cares greatly for you, and so Ilya would not let such a thing happen," Harry continued in his persuasion.

"Even after I've betrayed him so much already by remaining in regular contact with you, and still having not returned to Russia?"

"Yes, even after all that. Don't you think the FSB hasn't noticed that you're in a sexual relationship with an MI5 officer? Pillow talk is one of the most dangerous weapons in our business, yet they have not intervened. Ask yourself why. And besides, our section has been sharing more and more intelligence with the FSB headquarters here in London lately to work on operations together, in harmony. So I really don't think a little merging would do any harm. And besides, he's stuck by your mother in spite of all she's done, so I have no doubt that he'll do the same for you," Harry told his son from across the desk in his office.

"Wow, you've really given this some thought, haven't you?"

"I just think that it would be a good option. I mean, for starters, you'd get to see more of Emma."

Sasha smiled at the mention of her name, and murmured pensively: "That is true," before citing another concern: "But, I just can't see my employment here sitting well with your authorities."

"You forget I've been doing this job for a very long time, Sasha. And over the time I've gathered enough secrets of my own to be able to manipulate certain higher powers when needs must," Harry explained, suggestively. "Besides, persuading them shouldn't be too difficult, seeing as the likes of Towers and co. are the ones who were gunning for our companionship with Russia in the first place."

"I can't believe you're trying to convince a Russian to take a job in your section. You've certainly changed your tune from when we first met," Sasha joked.

"The last few months have changed a lot of things for me, my view on Russia being just one of them," Harry said, as cryptically as ever, though his son knew just what he meant. "Anyway, I know that I can trust you."

"Ok. You've sold me the idea. After all, I did find working with you all today rather an enjoyable experience. So, I will join your team. But, only as long as you get your Home Secretary to agree to it, help grant me that permanent British citizenship you mentioned, sort out my transition with the FSB, protect my former colleagues from murdering me, try and stop my parents…well Ilya and my mother from permitting such a thing, and give Emma and myself a week off before I take up a stable position," Sasha bargained.

"Consider it done. The last clause is of course only permitted on the condition that another emergency does not crop up of course," Harry added.

"Of course," Sasha repeated before standing to shake his father's hand to seal the deal.

Ruth watched him leave the office, and then waited impatiently for him and Emma to say their goodbyes and head home, before bursting in to talk to Harry who almost coughed on his mouthful of whiskey in reaction to her sudden entrance.

"Please, don't knock; I much rather prefer to leap out of my skin to greet you," Harry told her sarcastically.

"So, how did it go?" Ruth asked eagerly, ignoring his jibe.

"He agreed. Eventually. It took some persuading, and reassurance that the Russians wouldn't kill him, but I think the suggestion that he'd get to spend more time with his girlfriend was what swayed him," Harry told her, with a slight grin.

"Oh great!" Ruth said excitedly. "That's just great. He'll fit right in. Well done, Harry."

"I do believe he will. And well done to you for making the suggestion. He really did prove his strengths today. We need someone like him on our team. Plus, the great working relationship was highlighted between him and Emma, which I admit did surprise me somewhat."

"I know what you mean. We better watch out as we might have a new power couple to compete with on the scene!" Ruth joked.

"Don't be obscene, Ruth! Nobody could compete with us. We are essentially the Brad and Angelina of the intelligence world," Harry joked back, exposing his sense of humour which he only displayed on rare occasions, and only really when with Ruth.

"This is true," Ruth replied in between giggles. "Now come on Brad, put that whiskey down and let's get home."

"Right you are, Ange," Harry said, doing as she said and pulling on his coat.

**A/N: I know this part is a tad unrealistic, but I really wanted Sasha to be part of the section D team so he could work alongside Emma and Harry, and this was the best I could come up with. So, all I ask of you is to just humour me and enjoy the ride! I will update either tomorrow or the day after.**


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N: I'm loving your reviews. It's nice to get positive feedback especially seeing as this was not a story I had originally planned to share.**

**This chapter is more of a filler I suppose, but be warned, as things are about to get a little saucy...**

**Chapter Three**

It was Sunday evening by the time Sasha and Emma were on their way back to her flat, having worked all through that day and the previous night. Once his parents had moved back to Russia, Sasha had essentially moved in with Emma. It had happened almost accidentally, without either of them discussing it. They were unofficially living together, and though Emma assumed he would eventually find a place of his own, she hoped he wouldn't. She'd been too nervous to bring up the topic before, but she was on a delirious high from the buzz of the successful operation that day, which gave her the courage to go for it on the journey home.

"I want you to stay," Emma blurted out, and then cursed herself for being so abrupt.

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked, shocked by her sudden outburst.

"In my flat. Stay in my flat I mean. I'd like it if you could stay and we put you on the tenancy, so that you become a permanent lodger. I mean, unless you've already found a place of your own, which is fine if you have. I know we're both young so perhaps you want to enjoy the experience of having a bachelor pad, or whatever, not that I'm labeling you as that sort of guy, but…" Emma was rambling now, and she knew it, but she just couldn't stop. "It's just I know we hadn't been together for long before you started staying with me, and you might think that things have moved a little fast. So, if you want time away from me then that's totally fine and I understand. It's just, if you want to stay, I'd like that, but only if you want, I mean, don't feel like I'm pressuring…"

"Emma!" Sasha cried for the third time before finally managing to stop her talking. "I'd love to stay with you. I've been meaning to ask you about it for a while actually, as I know I should probably be contributing towards the rent…"

"Oh no, I didn't mean…"Emma interrupted him this time.

"I know, I know you didn't," Sasha hushed her before she could continue. "I too, didn't want to make it feel like we were rushing into anything. But now I know that we both feel the same way, I think we should go ahead and make it official. I love living with you. I love getting to spend time with you."

"I love spending time with you too," Emma told him, relieved and undeniably ecstatic at his reaction. "In fact, I often wish we could spend a little more time together. It feels like we are away working constantly at the moment."

"Well, that's good," Sasha replied, purposely confusing Emma.

"Good? What do you mean?" Emma asked, a perplexed frown creasing her brow.

"It's good that you'd like us to spend more time together," he continued to tease her.

"What? Why?" Emma questioned, before Sasha decided to put her out of her misery.

"My father has offered me a job at Section D as an intelligence officer in your team. And I accepted."

Emma gasped at first, before broadly grinning, and finished by squealing excitedly for a good few seconds.

Once she finally composed herself she managed: "No! Really? Oh my gosh. That's amazing! Oh, how brilliant. I was just thinking when we were working together today how much I'd love for us to be able to do it more often."

"Well now we will," Sasha told her happily, smiling at how pleased his girlfriend was; for a moment he had been concerned that she would have felt as though he would have been stepping on her toes so to speak.

"I can't wait. When do you start?" Emma asked, not even considering any of the possible disadvantages of the new career option that Sasha had questioned Harry about.

"In a week. And you don't go back until then either. Harry agreed to give you a holiday, on the condition that another emergency does not crop up of course," Sasha relayed his father's words to her. "And he's sorting out an immediate resignation for me, so we'll be able to spend your time off together."

"Wow! You've got a new job and I've got my first week off since joining Section D. It would seem like we have rather a lot to celebrate!" Emma exclaimed as they stepped out of the car and headed towards the block of flats in front of them.

"Indeed we do. How do you suggest we mark such a wonderful occasion?" Sasha asked whilst brushing a hand over Emma's bottom as they quickly climbed the stairs in the building.

"Hmmm. I wonder, what should we do?" Emma flirted, as she sought out the key in her bag.

"I've got an idea," he said, whilst leaning sexily into the wall as she opened her door.

Once inside, Emma slipped off her shoes and dropped her coat onto the floor as she bit her lip seductively and then asked: "Oh really? What would that be? Do tell."

"Or perhaps I could just show you," Sasha said, pushing the door shut behind him before proceeding to lift Emma up into his arms and carry her to the bedroom.

She giggled as he did so, and began unbuttoning his shirt hungrily.

The pair of them soon fell back into the bed, and Emma positioned herself so she was on top of Sasha. Her hair fell forward, the ends tickling his face delicately. She leaned down to press kisses on his neck, which were received with groans of gratitude. Emma then began working her way down his body, her lips contacting with his bare chest, then sliding down towards his lower torso and eventually to his trouser belt, which she skillfully undid with her teeth. Once she had finished sliding the trousers from his legs, Sasha sat up on the bed and pulled Emma in close so she was flush against him. One hand held her head closely against his so that their foreheads were touching and their lips brushed together. With his other hand he unbuttoned her blouse, carefully and slowly as to draw out the pleasure of undressing her. He slid the silk garment off her body and allowed it to drop gently onto the floor. He then unhooked her bra clasp with one single swift movement, and Emma relaxed her shoulders as to allow it to fall from her body. It was only then that he allowed his lips to fully meet with hers and he proceeded to explore every crevice of her mouth with the gentle yet passionate movement of his tongue. Emma broke away briefly only to let out a soft moan of contentment before returning to the kiss, to which Sasha responded by gripping her against him tighter with one hand and hurriedly pulling off his own shirt with the other. He then allowed his hands to drop to her hips, his thumps hooking the sides of her skirt, gently tugging it off as he leaned forward so they were lying down on the sheets once again. He withdrew from her lips only to remove Emma's tights, gliding the fabric down each of her legs, kissing the bare skin as it was revealed. Her French knickers were the only item remaining on her body, but Sasha was quick to ensure that they joined the rest of the garments on the bedroom floor soon after. He then moved back up the length of her body so that his head was hovering just above hers. Emma rested a palm on his chest as she felt his erratic heartbeat waver out of control. Her palm then began to slide down Sasha's body until her fingers reached the end of his torso. She began pulling his boxers off with her hands but then hitched her legs up either side of him and pulled his underwear completely off with her toes in an impressive display of agility.

Suddenly, Emma grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his face towards her to whisper: "You know it was a real turn on seeing you at work today, watching you run around with that gun and punching the bad guy. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage to resist you whilst watching you like that every day when you take up your permanent placement."

"I think I'm going to struggle myself not to pounce on you whilst you're working; you're so sexy when you interrogate extremists," Sasha told her, remembering the way she leaned over the desk to chagrin the terrorist, her lips pouting, and her blouse clinging tightly to her chest in all the right places. It was on that thought that he placed his hands on both of her thighs and pulled them gently apart before leaning down and slowly sliding inside her. Emma grasped a handful of the sheets as she felt him enter and her head rolled back into the pillow.

Sasha rocked forwards and back gently at first, building up the tension Emma felt inside of her. She pulled his face back towards hers, their mouths colliding along the way. Her lips crushed against his as she ran her fingers through his thick hair. He felt the eager passion in her kiss and responded by speeding up his movements. She let out a sigh of pleasure and wrapped her legs firmly around him, pulling him closer inside, her muscles tensing as she did so. The feeling of tension was spreading throughout her body and building in intensity with each thrust of Sasha's hips.

He liked the feel of her thighs enclosing in on him and when he felt them squeeze around him, a groan escaped his mouth. He began to push harder into her, the pool of heat expanding in his body. Emma's fingers clenched tightly onto the sheets once again and her back arched fully so her breasts pushed against his chest. She managed to moan the words: "Oh Sasha!" from the corner of her mouth before her whole body exploded. The high-pitched longing in her tone was just enough to push Sasha over the edge himself and he pressed his lips to her chest, nuzzling her skin as they both climaxed.

He collapsed down on top of her and her breathing fell heavy on his hair. His own breaths came out as pants against her skin until he eventually regained a regular breathing pattern and rolled off of Emma to lie close beside her. They both lay in silence, staring up at the ceiling, their eyes glazed over, and their limbs totally relaxed as they soaked up their post-coital bliss. Emma felt as though she was floating; it was like her body was the weight of a feather. The white sheets beneath her were clouds; she was gliding through the sky without a care in the world. Nothing else mattered in that moment apart from the figure next to her, who had turned onto his front and began running his fingers through her blonde strands of hairs. He was so strong and sturdy, yet his touch so soft and delicate, she couldn't help shivering in response. He tugged the covers up over the both of them and then pulled Emma close against him, pressing a goodnight kiss on the top of her head.

Sasha reached out behind him, searching for the light switch to turn it off. Not long after darkness flooded the room, the pair of them began drifting off into a calm sleep. Just before they fell into unconsciousness, the silence was broken by the words: "I love you." Sasha had whispered the declaration out in one short breath, so it was audible only to someone whose ear was against his shoulder, just centimeters away.

"I love you too," Emma replied as she smiled into Sasha's chest.

It was in that moment of pure happiness and love that the couple fell soundly asleep in each other's arms, a bubble of contentment surrounding them both, impenetrable to anything or anyone else.

**A/N: Just so you know, I've not really had any experience writing out scenes such as these before, so sorry if it was a bit shit/cringe, though I know I've definitely read worse, haha! I felt this was necessary to include but rest assured, things will be back to normal in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N: This is quite a big chapter as it is Sasha's first day in Section D and not everyone is willing to accept him into the team... **

**Enjoy and be sure to let me know your thoughts!**

**Chapter Four**

The subsequent week passed all too quickly for Sasha and Emma. Each day followed a similar routine. They'd lie in bed until noon, dozing and cuddling before finally getting up to indulge in brunch. They'd spend the afternoons curled up on the sofa with cups of tea, reading, or watching daytime TV. They went out for dinner on quite a few evenings, often succeeded by a trip to the cinema. These occasions were really making up for the dating stage that they were unable to experience in the first few weeks of their relationship due to their work commitments, not to mention the disapproving colleagues and relatives who had initially frowned upon the partnership.

A real advantage of dating in an established relationship is of course that the '3 date rule' so to speak, no longer need apply-an advantage with Sasha and Emma fully exploited, naturally. Each evening after returning home, they would end the night with a session of love-making, sometimes tender, sometimes more lustful, but always utterly exquisite. They had never spent so much time together, yet it was still not enough, and never would be, in Emma's opinion at least; she was desperate for it not to end. On Sunday morning, she awoke slightly saddened by the fact that she would be returning to work the next day. Obviously she was grateful that she would be spending her day in Sasha's company at The Grid from now on, though she understood that their relationship would need to transform into a working one; the romance would have to be saved until they returned home each evening.

"Come on, Emma, we're gonna be late," Sasha called out through the bathroom door.

"We've got plenty of time, don't worry," Emma replied, calmly, continuing to rub hand cream into her skin leisurely.

"I don't think I should turn up late on my first day," Sasha said, clearly sensing the lack of urgency about his girlfriend.

"Harry's not going to hold it against you; he is your Dad after all, and besides, we are not going to be late, so relax," Emma told him.

"If we don't leave in the next minute then we will be," Sasha insisted, tapping his fingers repeatedly on the dresser in agitation. "And if you don't come out of there soon, I'll be forced to leave without you."

"Alright, alright," Emma surrendered and finally vacated the bathroom. "I'm ready, we can leave. We'll most likely be early, though."

"I'm willing to take that risk," Sasha said, as he handed Emma her coat with an overt smile.

* * *

"Hi!" Emma called out to everyone as she stepped out of the pods, Sasha remaining apprehensively behind her, his hands in his pockets.

"Nice to have you back, and welcome, Sasha," Ruth greeted the pair of them warmly.

Sasha then called out to Tariq, "hello," as he rushed past with various pieces of heavy-looking computer equipment, though he elicited no response.

"Sasha, Emma," Erin nodded at the pair. "I trust you are well rested. You sure do have a lot to catch up on," she told them, whilst intermittently glancing at the iPad in her clutches.

"Decided to drag yourself back in at last then I see," Dimitri said jokingly, pinching Emma's arm affectionately as he came over to join the group. "Hey, Sasha, great to have you in the team man, let's just hope you can survive the mad house."

Sasha laughed in response to Dimitri's comment, but abruptly stopped as soon as he saw his stony-faced father walk out of his office.

"You're late," he announced, to which Sasha responded by shooting Emma a glare that was usually reserved for espionage-fuelled shoot-outs with terrorists. "Everyone in the meeting room, now."

His team obediently followed Harry's orders, Ruth racing ahead in front, Emma lagging behind as she whispered an apology to Sasha, all the while stifling a laugh.

* * *

"Come in," Harry called out pleasantly, even in spite of the fact that it was out of office hours and he was getting ready to leave; he was just so thrilled that someone had actually taken the time to knock on his door instead of just barging on in ahead as was the normal protocol.

Tariq entered into the room, a little sheepishly, Harry noted.

"Do take a seat," he gestured to the chair in front of him. "What can I help you with?"

Tariq hesitated in speaking, shuffling in his seat as he tried to figure out how to word what he wanted to say correctly. Although he'd been thinking about it all week, everything he'd come up with had sounded either offensive or just down right out-of line.

"Do try and make it snappy Tariq," Harry urged, "I've got a pie and chips waiting for me at home with my name on it, and I'd hate it to get cold."

Tariq decided he had better just come out with it, "I'm concerned that you've employed an FSB agent to work in the British Intelligence Services."

"Ahh," Harry sighed, this was inevitable he knew. He was unsure as to how his decision would go down with the team since he'd told them all last week, and if he was being completely honest, he was surprised that only one of them was voicing their concerns.

"I know he's your son, and you trust him but…" Tariq faltered.

"You're not so sure that I should?" Harry suggested.

"I've never questioned your judgement before Harry, but in this instance I feel it might just be a little…clouded," Tariq was stepping carefully, not wanting to sound disrespectful towards his boss.

"I understand," Harry remained rational, aware that it must have taken some real guts for his technician to broach him on the subject, "and I admire your tenacity. But I must try and reassure you by explaining the reasoning behind my decision to recruit Sasha."

Tariq nodded, prompting his boss to continue.

"First and foremost I must remind you that Sasha is now a **former** FSB agent, no longer working for the Russian government. Over the years I have dealt with double agents, triple agents, and probably even a few quadruple agents come to think of it! So I think it's fair to say that I know a traitor when I see one…"

"But what if you don't want to see someone for what they truly are?" Tariq blurted out.

"If you are implying that sentiment has rose-tinted my metaphorical glasses Tariq then I must urge you that they do in fact remain crystal clear. Sasha may be my biological child, but we are from father and son; I've been absent most of his life. I don't see him in that way at this moment," Harry felt that at the present moment in time it was best not to bring up the fact that he wished for his relationship with Sasha to become closer, "instead I see him as a talented officer who showcased his skills and abilities to me in the trial operation the other week, and who I believe will integrate well into this Section, proving to be a welcome addition. Furthermore I hope you will come to agree with me on this matter soon enough. In the meantime, I ask you to just give him a chance, sure keep a close eye on him if you like, but I'm confident he will surprise you."

Tariq took in his monologue, but still only felt minimally reassured.

"It's just…you've seen what his mother was capable of," Tariq said, "for all we know, Sasha could have been using Emma and manipulating you as a way of getting into MI5, all to then feed information back to Russia."

"Sasha has been through intensive security tests, using techniques and machinery that was not available to use on his mother back in the 80s I might add," Harry attempted to lighten the mood a little. "Of course, as you know, we can never really be certain about anyone or anything in our line of work. For all we know I could be working for Libya, and you for Iran. But I like to think we trust each other. Trust is always a risk, and where Sasha is concerned, I really believe he is a risk worth taking."

"I understand," Tariq replied, and he was not lying completely. Some of the points Harry had made had resonated with him and did make sense. He was still not totally sold, but he would give Sasha a chance. He hadn't gone into the office with the hope of convincing Harry to go back on his decision, he had just wanted to check that his boss had not been overwhelmed with sentimentality all of sudden, and he was now confident that this was not the case. Harry was still Harry! So he left feeling at least somewhat satisfied. "Goodnight Harry, enjoy your pie and chips!"

"Oh I will, don't you worry!" he called back as the door shut behind Tariq.

* * *

"Tea?" Sasha called out from the kitchen to Emma, who was padding out from the bedroom, having changed out of her work clothes and into something a little more comfortable.

"Ooh, I'd love one, thank you," Emma replied as she reclined back into the sofa, exhausted from her first day back at work. "So, how did you find it today?"

"It was good, hectic, but no more than what it was like with the FSB. However, the team is a little friendlier than I'm used to," Sasha explained as he poured the hot water into the tea pot.

"I can imagine," Emma hummed. "I'm sorry about making us late, by the way, it's just I'm used to never being early!"

"Don't worry, it was just first day nerves making me little irritable, so I'm sorry if I was a bit off. I never knew the prospect of working for my father would be so intimidating," Sasha confessed.

"Harry is such a powerful presence, and I was absolutely terrified of him when I first started. But over the years I've realised that he's just a big softy inside, made evidently clear since his relationship with Ruth has been official. Saying that though, I'm still in awe of him; he's done so much over his career, been part of so many operations, met so many agents, gathered so much intelligence, and still managed to remain totally loyal to his country throughout. That's why I look up to him so much, and aspire to never disappoint him," Emma revealed, making it clear that she understood where Sasha was coming from. "So, I imagine that pressure is a hundred times greater seeing as he is your father."

"It's strange, I haven't known him very long, but I already feel like there is a connection between us, and a much stronger one than was ever between myself and Ilya, so I guess that's why I just don't want to let him down," Sasha spoke down into the mugs of tea that he was stirring, finding it easier to pour his heart out without resuming eye contact with Emma.

"You won't, and even if you ever do mess up, he'll still always be on your side, because he's your father, and as you say, there is a bond between you, one that is virtually unbreakable. Harry claims that his job comes first, but he's reached an age now where I believe his priorities have finally changed. He's got Ruth, and now he's got you, and I truly believe that he'll always be there for you, supporting you, in one way or another," Emma told her boyfriend reassuringly as she accepted the cup of tea he handed her.

"You really think?" Sasha asked as he took a seat beside her.

Emma nodded, before lightening the mood by adding: "But I will promise to get ready a bit quicker from now on so that we are definitely not late again, as to not irritate Harry!"

Sasha laughed heartedly, before planting a soft kiss on Emma's cheek. "I really do love you, you know," he said softly. He meant it too; he had really appreciated Emma's heartfelt words that evening. He was even starting to believe she may be right about his father too, at least, he hoped she was.

**A/N: I know that Harry contradicts himself slightly in what he says to Tariq about his relationship with his son when compared to his conversation with Sasha in the last chapter. But in my mind Harry HAS in fact become more sentimental (Ruth has changed him) but he does not want to let on to Tariq so he alters the truth slightly. Furthermore, he is trying to convince himself that he hasn't made a decision with his heart and not his head, as he does not want to appear vulnerable. That is my take anyway. Let me know what you think. **


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N: This chapter zooms forward to a month in time. So, by now Sasha has been working in Section D for a little while, though he's still not completely settled in.**

**And as _Antonia Caenis_ predicted in an earlier review, there is some trouble in paradise brewing right about now...**

**Chapter Five**

"Come on, Emma, we're gonna be late," Sasha called out through the bathroom door.

To be fair to Emma, she had kept her promise for a while, but a month into Sasha's new job and they found themselves right back where they had started in regard to the morning routine.

"I'm coming," Emma replied as she leaned against the wall and took some deep breaths. She wasn't holding them up by rubbing in hand cream this time; she was in fact ready, ready in that she was clean, fed and made-up. However, she had suddenly been struck by an overwhelming wave of nausea, and had thought it best that she remained in the bathroom until it passed. Except it didn't; it was only getting worse.

"We need to leave now, Emma," Sasha expressed.

"I know, I'll be out in a minute, wait in the car for me," she replied, barely able to steady herself against the sink.

"Ok," he huffed, clearly irritated.

She waited until she could no longer hear his footsteps, before dropping to her knees beside the toilet and throwing up the breakfast that she had so recently consumed. Although the experience was not pleasant of course, Emma was relieved that after it was all over, as she did feel much better for it. And so she proceeded to quickly brush her teeth and tidy herself up before rushing out to the car to join a moody looking Sasha.

"You took your time," he said through gritted teeth as he fired up the engine.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, we should still make though," Emma apologised.

"No we won't," Sasha told her curtly. "We're going to miss the beginning of the briefing."

"Oh well, I'm sure someone will bring us up to speed," Emma tried, desperately trying to diffuse the situation before it turned into an argument.

"Harry won't be impressed," Sasha said, throwing a glare at Emma as he turned a corner.

"Well, he rarely is," Emma told him with a slight chuckle.

"Don't joke about it; I've explained to you why I don't want to let him down. I could really do with some support from you right now," Sasha reasoned, whilst weaving his way through the morning traffic in London.

"Sasha!" Emma cried, hurt from his words. "I have been supporting you, I still am. We haven't been late once for the past month, until…"

"This morning," Sasha finished the sentence for her, "when you decided to stop bothering to make the effort to be on time anymore."

"No, it wasn't like that at all. If you must know, I wasn't feeling very well, so just give me a break would you," Emma explained, her voice wavering and tears pricking her eyes.

"Well, you look alright to me," Sasha replied sulkily as he drove into the nearest parking space at work.

"For Christ's Sake," Emma muttered in response, as she fought back the tears; no way was she going to start crying, especially over such an insignificant disagreement. She didn't even know why she was getting so emotional about it anyway.

The couple both slammed their respective doors shut after getting out of the car, then proceeded to walk into Thames House in complete silence.

When they entered the boardroom to eventually join the rest of the section, the tension between the pair was glaringly obvious to everyone, except Harry of course.

"You're…" he started.

"Late," Emma continued for him, "yes, we're fully aware of that."

"Well if you are so time-conscious then perhaps you wouldn't mind explaining to me why you've chosen to walk into a briefing that is almost finished," Harry shot back.

Before the latecomers could provide an excuse though, Ruth cut in: "Leave it, Harry; at least they are here now."

If anyone else in the room had said that, he would have undoubtedly launched a seething tirade at them, but as it was Ruth, Harry simply nodded and pursed his lips before resuming the meeting.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the decrypted email you see on the screen does suggest that Emmett Granger was in fact turned during his captivity in Afghanistan and is now passing official intelligence back to his former imprisoners."

The rest of the meeting was mostly a blur for Emma. She tried to concentrate but all she could think about was the spat between her and Sasha. She was angry for letting it get to her so much, which just stressed her out all the more. She couldn't take anything in that Harry was saying; she just kept going over what had happened earlier. 'It wasn't fair', she thought. 'Why was he being so unfair?'

"EMMA!" Harry suddenly cut into her thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" she finally brought her attention back to the briefing.

"Give me strength! Have you even been listening to me at all?" Harry questioned.

"Of course," Emma lied, the last thing she needed right now was another berating from her boss.

"So…" Harry prompted, though Emma remained silent. He sighed, and repeated his question: "Will you be alright to take charge of surveillance from this end this morning?"

"Yes, definitely," Emma confirmed, though she was not entirely certain who or what she would be spying on exactly.

"Right, good," Harry responded, with wide eyes. "Dimitri and Sasha, you'll be heading down to take a look round Granger's flat."

They nodded.

"Well, that's all. You better get to work, and try not to mess this one up; I'd really rather not start the week by having to tell the Home Secretary that we've let a British POW run riot on his home soil," Harry warned, directing his eye contact mainly at Emma, she noted.

Emma walked over to her desk and watched as Sasha and Dimitri left the office through the pods. Once they were gone, Erin came over and perched on the table in front of her.

"Hey, are you okay? Things seemed a little unsettled between you and Sasha back there," Erin asked, and Emma could tell that she was genuinely concerned.

"Oh, we had a bit of a row this morning. It was nothing serious; he was just annoyed at me for making us late. He gets really tetchy because he's so desperate to impress Harry and doesn't want to make a bad impression on him. Of course, I didn't set out to make us late on purpose; I just didn't feel very well," Emma explained, almost welling up again in frustration as she realised just how petty their fight was.

"And I take it he wasn't very sympathetic," Erin said.

"Hmmm," Emma hummed in agreement. "He thought I was making it up. Though why he thinks I'd purposely set out to embarrass him and then lie about it I don't know."

Erin detected the slight crack in Emma's voice, so quickly interjected: "Don't worry about it, sweetie. By the end of the day he'll have realised what a dick he's been and immediately come grovelling."

"Do you think?"

"I can almost guarantee it. He's obviously stressed out still by this new job, and he's taking it out on you. He shouldn't be though, and he'll see that soon enough. So try not to let it worry you too much," Erin comforted Emma.

"I'll try. Thanks honey," Emma said, looking up at Erin with a smile.

"No problem. Anyway, are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, much better. It came on quite suddenly, and has passed much in the same way," Emma told her.

"What was wrong?" Erin asked.

"Oh, just a bit of nausea," Emma revealed vaguely.

"PMT?"

"Something like that," Emma replied. "Anyway, would you mind telling me who I'm supposed to actually be putting surveillance on here, because as you probably gathered, I wasn't really all there in that meeting?"

* * *

"Do you want a lift home, Emma?" Erin asked as she wrapped her scarf round her neck.

"No, thanks, I'll wait for Sasha to get back," Emma replied.

"He won't be coming back here though, you know," Tariq interjected.

"How come?" Emma queried.

"Well, he's going out to the pub with the boys?" Tariq explained.

Emma frowned, "the boys?"

"Yeah, Dimitri, and some of the guys from Section C too; he is on his way there now, and after I've finished encrypting these files I'm going to join them. I thought you knew," Tariq said sheepishly.

"No, when did you all plan this?" Emma asked.

"Sasha only texted me about it this afternoon," he replied.

Emma looked at her phone, and saw that she had received no message from Sasha herself.

"And none of us girls are allowed to come along and join in on the fun?" Erin added.

"Afraid not, lads only tonight," Tariq told her, grinning. Having taken Harry's advice, over the past few weeks he had taken time to get to know Sasha and was able to gain his trust, so much so he was beginning to see him as a good friend.

"Right well, I suppose I better take you up on that offer of a lift then, if that's alright," Emma said to Erin.

"No problem," Erin replied, handing Emma her coat.

* * *

Emma was quiet on the journey home, quite obviously hurt by the fact that Sasha hadn't bothered to tell her he was going out.

"Just because it's taking him a little longer than expected, it doesn't mean that he won't realise how stupid he's being. It will dawn on him eventually, I promise," Erin attempted to cheer her friend up.

Emma nodded, but gave no audible reply; clearly it was going to take a little more to lift her spirits.

"Hey, you know what, how about we have our own girls' night?" Erin suggested.

Emma perked up a little, "what?"

"If the boys are out having fun, why don't we have a little fun of our own? Rosie is with her Dad tonight, so I've got a free house. We'll open a bottle of wine, watch some crap on TV, and bitch about men into the early hours. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like just what I need," Emma said, smiling.

"Great," Erin returned a grin in Emma's direction.

"And I don't think I'll bother telling Sasha where I am, see how he likes it!"

* * *

"I've only got red, is that alright?" Erin asked as she handed Emma a glass of _Trattoria Verdi Montepulciano_.

"That's fine," Emma said, as she accepted the drink, though when she went to take a sip, she was hit suddenly by the strong aromas from the liquid. The scent was not necessarily unpleasant, just overpowering, in a way that made Emma want to almost gag. "Actually, Erin, I think I will pass on the wine, if you don't mind. I'm feeling a bit sick again, and I don't really think alcohol will help matters."

"Oh, ok," Erin said as she took the glass back from Emma.

"Sorry," Emma apologised.

"Oh, no worries; all the more for me," Erin commented, chuckling. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Yes, I'm sure it'll pass again soon."

"Ok, but if it doesn't, lucky for you, as a mother, I'm good with sick!"

"I'll bear that in mind!" Emma joked along, though she was slightly worried that she may in fact be forced to call Erin's bluff should there be a repeat of that morning's incident!

The remainder of the evening turned out to be most enjoyable for Emma; Erin did a stellar job of cheering her up, mainly by distracting her from the day's events, and what's more, it was, thankfully, sick-free. Emma felt positively revitalised by the time she was eventually on her way back to her flat. Whilst in the back of the cab, she checked her phone and found she had in fact received a message from Sasha about an hour earlier.

_Where are you?_

There was no point replying now. She paid the driver and hurried into her building to quickly escape the cold. When she did let herself in she found Sasha sprawled across the bed, sound asleep. 'He can't have been too worried about me then' Emma mumbled as she proceeded to get ready for bed herself.

**A/N: So the happy couple are no longer so happy! You'll have to wait until the next chapter to see if a reconciliation is on the cards or not.**

**Drop me a review to let me know what you thought, if you'd be so kind! :)**


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N: Hello again! This next chapter is quite lengthy but there's a lot going on. Now, as _Batteredpen_ pointed out, I know it's pretty obvious what's happening here. But as I stated earlier, I never originally wrote this for an audience, and this is where I wanted the story to go, for reasons which will be explained later on.**

**I'd just like to say thanks for all the reviews, especially the continuing encouragement from _VelocityGirl1980_-I'm so glad you think I'm keeping Harry in character, as he is my favourite one to write!**

**Chapter Six**

The following day, Sasha and Emma went about their morning routines without exchanging a word between them. There was a lot that needed to be said, but neither of them was willing to start the conversation. Emma was angry that Sasha hadn't told her he was going out but she didn't feel able to broach him on the subject, due to her own late night antics, which provided him with ammunition should she begin questioning him about it. She didn't want to be the one to prompt him into firing. But, neither did he want to start the war. So, neither of them said anything at all.

The stony silence continued during the car journey to work. The only noises were the slight hum of the engine, the brushing of Sasha's hands on the wheel, the changing of gear, and the occasional beep of a horn coming from a nearby car. Sasha eventually decided to put the radio on to break the muteness, which was, admittedly, a relief to Emma. The tension was killing her. She couldn't bear it. She hated fighting, especially with someone whom she cared about so dearly. She concluded that they would have to deal with the situation as soon as they finished work as she simply couldn't go on any longer like this. Sure, Sasha had stepped out of line, but she shouldn't have attempted to make it right with a wrong. They had both messed up, and they sooner they just admitted it, the sooner things could get back to normal. Emma missed normal; she missed Sasha, being close to him, talking to him, and most of all kissing him. Just the thought of the feeling of his lips against hers was enough to almost make her knees weak. No, this situation must not continue; a reconciliation must be initiated this evening, Emma decided.

But first, she needed to get through the day at work. This started with a meeting in the board room as usual, and again Emma found herself struggling to concentrate on what Harry was saying. Not just due to the situation with her boyfriend this time though, but also because she felt another bout of nausea coming along. She took some deep breaths in the hope that it would pass, but the feeling of sickness just became more intense. She gripped onto the table and beads of sweat began forming on her temple. She tried desperately to conceal her obvious lack of attention towards Harry's brief, but unfortunately she didn't fool him.

"Emma, are you listening to me?" Harry boomed at her. "We have a real emergency on our hands right now, so I need the whole team on board, which means there is no time for any daydreaming, do you hear me?"

Emma was about to respond; only as she went to speak, she felt herself heave. She knew what was coming; and she didn't think throwing up the contents of her stomach in the middle of the table would really do very much to improve Harry's mood, so she rushed out of the room and practically sprinted to the toilets. She got there just in time.

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Harry blasphemed. "This is all I need right now."

"Is she ok?" Dimitri asked, concerned.

"She's probably just hungover," Sasha muttered.

"Actually," Erin cut in. "She didn't drink anything last night when she was over at mine. She wasn't feeling very well then either."

Sasha stared down at the desk, guilt washing over him.

"Do you think someone should maybe check on her?" Dimitri suggested.

"No," Harry said. "I'm sure she'll be fine, I need you all here. We have a crucial operation ahead of us, so I could really do without missing any more officers."

"I'll go," Ruth announced, standing up, blatantly ignoring Harry's orders.

He went to argue, but thought better of it, so just pursed his lips indignantly.

Emma collapsed onto the bathroom floor, and just managed to reach up with a weak arm to flush the toilet. It was then that she heard soft footsteps and the sound of the door swinging open. She was thankful that the person entering had only come in after she had finished being sick. She then heard the sound of her name being softly called. Emma recognised the woman's voice immediately.

"I'm in here, Ruth," Emma responded feebly.

"Are you ok, Emma?" Ruth asked through the cubicle door.

"Yeah," Emma croaked out.

"Can I come in?" Ruth asked.

Emma thought about refusing; she didn't want to be seen like this, but then she remembered it was Ruth, kind and lovely Ruth, so she unlocked the door.

"It's open," she called out.

Ruth pushed the door open tentatively. "Oh gosh Emma, you look awful!"

"Thanks," Emma said, managing a slight smile.

"Oh no, I didn't mean…" Ruth began.

"I Know, I know. I'm fine really, or at least I will be in a minute. I was just a bit sick, but I'm feeling a bit better, now," Emma confessed.

"Was it something you've eaten, or a stomach bug?" Ruth inquired.

"I was ill yesterday too, so it's more likely a bug, I think," Emma told her.

"Oh right, I see. Well, you should probably go home, and recover," Ruth suggested, rubbing Emma's shoulder maternally.

Emma laughed out loud in response to Ruth's suggestion. "And leave Harry in the lurch when we're in the middle of an apparent national crisis. You must be kidding me?!"

"He wouldn't mind, if he knew. I'd explain to him."

"Were you not in that meeting just now?!" Emma exclaimed. "If I abandoned ship today I think he'd fire me!"

"I'm sure he'd understand if I told him that you needed to rest," Ruth offered.

"Ruth, it's fine honestly. I'm needed, and besides, I'm feeling much better," Emma told her.

"Hmmm," Ruth wasn't convinced. "If you insist, but if you change your mind at any point and start to feel ill again, you make sure you take the rest of the day off, ok?"

"Ok," Emma agreed. "But for now, let's get back to work."

"Alright, but if there's anything you need from me, just ask," Ruth said kindly.

"Thanks," Emma said. "Actually Ruth, there is one thing."

"What's that?"

"I don't suppose you could find me a toothbrush and toothpaste from somewhere could you?"

Ruth chuckled, "Consider it done."

Sasha felt guilty. Guilty for shouting at Emma yesterday. Guilty for abandoning her and not letting her know where he was. Guilty for ignoring her this morning. Guilty for being angry at her for going over to Erin's. Guilty for assuming that she had just drank too much, when in actual fact she was genuinely ill. He was worried too. He wanted to know what was wrong with her, and how he could make it better. He wanted desperately to hold her in his arms and apologise and tell her everything would be ok, and nurse her back to health. But Harry had other plans for his son.

"Sasha I need you to go to meet with Pataki's mother. She's his Achilles' heel; so if we get her onside, I think we may just have a chance of stopping him in time," Harry told him.

He didn't respond; he was too busy thinking about what he was going to say to Emma when she finally returned.

"SASHA!" Harry suddenly exploded.

"Yes," he perked up. "Sorry, where do you want me to go?"

Harry hissed some profanities before proceeding to repeat himself. "Go and meet with Pataki's mother. There will be no need for a legend, just go in and be honest with her; tell her what her son is planning, and hopefully she'll weaken. We need to act fast, here."

"You want me to go now?" Sasha asked.

"Yes, right now," Harry confirmed. "Is that a problem?"

"Er, no," Sasha said.

"Good, because I do believe that is what The State is paying you to do," Harry commented.

Sasha's shoulders slumped as a result of his father's putdown. "Right, sure, I know. Sorry, I'll go straight away."

By the time Emma arrived back on The Grid, Sasha was gone.

Luckily she didn't feel ill again for the rest the day, though even if she had, she doubted she would have had time to notice; she was kept so busy trying to pin down an extremist. Everyone, including herself, was either running round the office, or central London, adrenaline-fuelled and determined, all with the same goal. The team's work paid off though; by the end of the day they had their man, who was now in the back of a Special Forces van, handcuffed and undeniably defeated.

Success! Emma smiled as she began packing up her things for the day. The expression fell from her face, however, when Sasha walked through the pods; she couldn't handle another argument. But as he got closer, she could see from the look on his face that it didn't seem as he wanted one either.

He placed a hand lightly on the small of her back and quietly spoke, "Come on, let's get you home."

"You're very tense today," Ruth commented as she rubbed her thumbs into Harry's scapulae.

"I wonder why?" Harry replied sarcastically.

"Hmmm," Ruth murmured. "It has been a rather stressful day."

"You're not wrong there. It's days like today that make me feel as though I'm getting too old for all this!"

"Nonsense!" Ruth scoffed. "The operation was successful. Section D saved the day once again, and all thanks to your leadership."

"Only by the skin of our teeth," Harry added.

"Has it ever been any different?" Ruth disputed.

"Touché," Harry responded with a crooked smile.

It was at that point that Ruth noticed Sasha leaving with his arm loosely wrapped around Emma.

"Looks like things are back to normal with those two then," she commented.

Harry sighed.

"Do you think I made the right decision in hiring him?" he asked.

"Of course! Why, are you having doubts?" Ruth asked, perching on the desk in front of Harry.

"A few," Harry confessed. "Since he arrived, Emma seems somewhat…vacant."

"That was just because of their lovers' tiff. She'll be back to her normal brilliant self again soon. Not that she wasn't anything other than brilliant today, though."

"Yes, she did do well. Do you think perhaps I was a little hard on her earlier?"

"Just a little, especially seeing as she was feeling so rotten at the time" Ruth told him. "But you were under a lot of pressure, so I'm sure you'll be forgiven."

"I worry that this arrangement isn't exactly doing wonders for mine and Sasha's relationship either though," Harry revealed, leaning back heavily into his chair.

"Why do you say that?"

"I mean, before I offered him the job, I felt like we were really making progress; having found some common ground between us. But now, I just find myself snapping at him nearly all the time."

"It's perfectly normal to snap at your children, expected even!" Ruth said, dimples forming in her cheeks. "And besides, your working relationship with him is bound to be different to your personal one. He's your employee when he's here, so it's only right for you to treat him like one. But that doesn't mean that you can't bond more as father and son when you're not at work."

"I suppose," Harry said. "So do you think I should make the effort to see him more in our free time?"

"That's exactly what I think you should do," Ruth advised. "I don't think you made the wrong decision in hiring Sasha. Admittedly he and Emma haven't been on their best form as of late but they are young and in love at the end of the day, so you should just give them a break. Plus, we are a shining example to them that it is possible for couples to work in harmony together. Once they have got over the current bump in their relationship they will go back to being more focused, I'm sure."

"You're right. As always," Harry told her with a chuckle. "Thank you for being so reassuring."

"No problem, you know I'm always here to be agony aunt whenever you need me to be."

Harry then scooped Ruth up into his arms, kissing her unexpectedly as a display of his appreciation.

Sasha held the door of the car open for Emma to get into the passenger seat.

"Very chivalrous," she murmured with a smile.

"It's the least I can do," Sasha replied as he got into the vehicle himself.

There was silence between the couple once again as they exited the car park; both of them were considering what they were going to say to one another.

It was Sasha who spoke up first. "I'm sorry Emma," he stated.

"It's ok, I'm sorry too," she said.

"No, I was total prick. I don't know what came over me. I was just so caught up with all this shit with my dad. But I shouldn't have let it affect our relationship. I was stupid to take it out on you. I was awful to you when you were ill and needed me. I feel so terrible," Sasha apologised, wincing as he relayed his own behaviour. "Are you okay now?"

"Much better thank you!" Emma told him, and she was telling the truth; perhaps it had been the exhilaration of work today, or maybe the fact that she was no longer at loggerheads with her boyfriend, but whatever it was, she was feeling all the more better for it. "I was just a bit upset when you went out without telling me, but I shouldn't have reacted by proceeding to do exactly the same thing."

"I just wanted to clear my head but I should have told you. It was immature I know. Besides, it didn't help anyway; if anything it just clouded my thoughts further," Sasha explained.

"So beers with the boys was not the solution?" Emma asked, smiling as she realised how funny Tariq had sounded yesterday.

"Most definitely not; they just gave me a headache by complaining about their own relationship problems instead of giving me any advice about mine. And the beer…well that just gave me a headache too!"

Emma chuckled. "So it looks like I made the right decision by avoiding the wine last night!"

"Indeed. So if it wasn't alcohol that made you ill, what was it?"

"Don't know, I said to Ruth that it was probably a bug, but I'm fine now anyway," Emma replied.

"That's good, I was worried about you!" Sasha revealed. "I was worried about you last night too when you weren't in what I got back. When did you return?"

"About half two," Emma confessed, and felt suddenly tired as it dawned on her how little sleep she had got last night. "You didn't seem too worried; you were sound asleep when I got back!"

Sasha laughed in response to her jibe. "Are we good now?"

"We're good," Emma responded and leaned over to plant a kiss on Sasha's cheek. "I missed not talking to you properly like this, I was lonely!"

"Me too," Sasha said. "I really am sorry, you know."

"Well, you might have to show me," Emma replied.

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked, confused.

"Show me how sorry you are," Emma ordered seductively.

Sasha glanced at Emma, who was wide-eyed and biting her lip. She began gliding her hand slowly up the inside of his leg. He smiled as he understood what she was getting at.

"I'm driving!" Sasha exclaimed, nearly swerving into the side of the road when Emma's hand reached his crotch.

"Sorry, but I can't wait," she told him cheekily.

"We'll be home in a minute," he reassured her, as well as himself.

"But I want you now," Emma leaned out of her seat to whisper into Sasha's ear.

Sasha felt so turned on by this point that he couldn't resist taking his left hand off of the wheel in order to touch his girlfriend. He rubbed the inside of her thigh. With each glide of his hand he got closer and closer to, but never quite reached, the point that she was so dying for him to touch.

Emma whimpered in frustration. "Stop teasing me, Sasha."

He smirked, satisfied, before eventually giving into his girlfriend's desires. He simultaneously steered the car whilst rubbing in between his girlfriend's legs. Emma arched back into her seat, moaning softly as Sasha increased the pressure.

He stopped suddenly, much to her dismay, as they approached their flat, to drop down a gear and then park up. But as soon as they were stationary, he resumed the activities. He leant over to begin kissing her hungrily. Emma responded by clambering over from her seat to sit on top of Sasha, so that she was straddling him. He began to let his hands wander back down her, but just as he was gliding his hand down into her knickers, she grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, let's go inside," she said, suddenly remembering that they were in a public, and although it was dark, the street lights meant that they were still in view of the passers-by.

Sasha obliged, and the pair jumped out of the car. They quickly made their way into the building and up the stairs, kissing each other feverishly and pulling at each other's clothes along the way. By the time they actually reached their flat, they were practically half-dressed. They didn't even make it to the bedroom.

Emma tore off Sasha's belt and unzipped his trousers. He pulled up her skirt and ripped her tights off, tearing them as he did. She didn't care. They stumbled around the living room blindly as they kissed zealously. Sasha gripped Emma's waist so they were pressed tightly together. She felt him; he was rock hard against her. She needed him inside of her. So she began tugging his boxers down.

When they found their way into the kitchen, Sasha hitched Emma up onto the work surface. He pulled her underwear down just enough for him to gain access. He entered her quickly. They both let out groans of satisfaction.

Emma brought her knees up so that they pressed into Sasha's hips, her knickers clinging onto her ankles still. He thrust into her hard and fast, barely catching his breath. She tugged on his hair with one hand and gripped onto the worktop with the other, her hold body tensing up. He ripped off her-already-unbuttoned-blouse and bra so that he could massage her breasts. He thumbed her nipples, feeling them pebble instantly in response to his touch. He then began nuzzling into them, kissing and sucking until she was crying out.

Emma put her hands behind her and leant backwards so that Sasha could go deeper into her. Her legs squeezed even tighter against him, and she rocked into his thrusts, making them more intense still. It was enough to send him over the edge. She moaned as she felt him fill up the inside of her. She was close herself, he could feel it. He moved one hand to between her legs and began rubbing in order to finish her off. She screamed in pleasure as her orgasm took over her body, rippling through her powerfully.

They both remained connected for a little while afterwards, breathlessly pecking each other's lips and laughing. They parted eventually, once they had finally regained their normal breathing patterns, and proceeded to get dressed.

Sasha then made dinner for them both. They spent the rest of the evening curled up on the sofa together watching TV.

Sasha held Emma close. He realised he had made a mistake, and in that moment he vowed never to take her for granted again. He was lucky enough to be with the love of his life, and nothing in the world was going to make him let go of her. He would stand by her no matter what from now on, for she meant the world to him. The last year had been a difficult one for him but meeting her had been the best moment of his life. He'd saved lives-and helped saved countries even-in the past, but landing the girl of his dreams had by far been his greatest achievement yet.

**A/N: So although Emma and Sahsa have made up, tensions are rising between him and Harry. But at least Ruth is there to play peacemaker! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Keep the reviews coming!**


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N: Hello again! I'm sorry it's been a while but hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait-it is quite dramatic! Before you start reading, you should bear in mind that I don't actually work for British Intelligence (or do I?) so I'm just going off what I know from the show to write in the operations. Seeing as this is not the major focus of the plot, I'll once again ask you to humour me when you get to these parts in the story.**

**Chapter Seven**

The following morning Emma woke to find that she was still wearing her hoody and leggings that she had thrown on the evening before. She then realised that she couldn't actually remember going to bed.

"Sasha," she mumbled.

"Good morning, gorgeous," he was stood by the wardrobe buttoning up his shirt.

"How come I'm still dressed?" she asked.

"You fell asleep on the sofa last night whilst we were watching TV. You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up, so I carried you into bed," he explained. He didn't reveal how he had spent half an hour before that watching her sleep soundly in his arms and listening to her breathing softly. He loved seeing her look so content, especially after she had been so anguished recently.

"Oh, I see, thanks babe," she said as she got up to kiss him on the cheek. "I better go and get out of these clothes and shower, though."

Sasha watched as she padded into the bathroom. "Are you feeling better today?"

"Yeah," Emma called out from the bathroom.

She then proceeded to turn the shower on to disguise the sound of her being sick, again.

She didn't mean to lie to Sasha; she just didn't want to worry him. And besides, she _had_ been feeling better, just up until this morning, and once it was all over she felt ok again. She knew that if she told him then he'd try and persuade her not to go into work, even though she was perfectly capable. It was just easier not to tell him.

Admittedly part of her didn't want to tell him because then she'd have to deal with it. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but as long as she could manage it and get on with her life then she was happy to ignore it. And that was what she planned on doing.

* * *

"As you can see from these photos, Hudali has in fact been trafficking underage prostitutes and child soldiers for the past five years. And it has recently come to our attention that he has also started to dabble in arms dealing also. He's entering the UK this week…" Harry paused to look at Emma who had just let out a large sniffle. "Is everything alright, Emma?"

"Yes, yes, I've just got a bit of a cold coming, I think," she lied. "Sorry, carry on."

Harry swiftly got back to his briefing. Erin wasn't so easily convinced; she mouthed at Emma: 'you sure?'

Emma nodded enthusiastically, a little too enthusiastically perhaps, but still, Erin returned her attention back to Harry. Ruth however, continued to watch Emma from afar. She saw her subtly wipe her eyes with her sleeve and just about manage to stifle her sobs.

Emma had no idea why she was crying. She was a spook for Christ's Sake, and she never cried at work. It was just for some reason she found the images up on the projector screen so upsetting. They were upsetting; it was photographs of abused and exploited children. But she'd seen worse in her time in this job and had never had an outburst in the middle of a meeting before. She chastised herself for letting her emotions get the better of her, took a deep breath and managed to regain her composure.

* * *

"So, are things all sorted between yourself and Sasha now?" Erin peered round her computer screen to ask Emma later on that morning.

"Yes," Emma responded with a smile. "We cleared the air last night. He admitted to being a dick and apologised, just like you said he would!"

Erin let out a satisfied chuckle, "See, I told you that you had nothing to worry about."

"He was really lovely actually; I fell asleep and he carried me…" Emma began before stopping suddenly mid-sentence.

"Emma," Erin prompted, noting the sudden change in facial expression on her friend.

"Jesus Christ! What is that smell?!" Emma asked, her stomach churning as the pungent scent flooded her nostrils.

"What smell? I can't smell anything," Erin told her, perplexed.

"How can you not? It's so strong," Emma said, astounded.

"Ruth, can you smell anything?" Erin asked her colleague who was sat a few metres to the left of her.

"What?" Ruth perked up; turning her attention away from the paperwork she was filling out, to look at Erin.

"Emma can smell something, but I can't. Can you?" Erin asked again.

"No, what type of smell is it, Emma?" Ruth enquired.

"It's sort of…sickly. I think it's coming from over there," Emma pointed in the direction of the techie's work area.

"Is Tariq using…body lotion? Surely not," Erin squinted as she struggled to see what he was rubbing into his arms.

The trio got up and went over to investigate. Erin was right.

"Oh hi guys," Tariq greeted the approaching women.

"Hi, we just came over so see what product you were using. Emma could smell it from over there," Erin explained.

"Oh, it's this new Japanese moistuiser I found. It's not sold over here yet but I managed to get some online by hacking into the company's mainframe and redirecting an order. It's especially good for dry elbows, which is something I really suffer from, you know. It's brilliant!" Tariq explained, beaming.

The women paused for a while, taking in how overwhelmingly metrosexual Tariq had just revealed himself to be. Erin eventually managed to squeak out: "Wow!"

"It's brilliant; was well worth the hassle. Do you want to try some?" Tariq said shoving the pot of cream in Emma's face, causing her to jump back as the concentrated smell of the lotion hit her. It stung her nose and caught in the back of her throat. The scent was so sweet, too sweet, it was making her gag. Her insides were doing summersaults. She needed to get to the bathroom, and quickly.

Just like yesterday, Emma found herself sprinting to the Ladies'. 'Not again'she thought to herself as she felt the all too familiar sensation of abrupt sickness build up.

It was another close call, but once again she made it to the toilets without disgracing herself; all those years of chasing round London after terrorists with bombs/guns/hostages/secret files had clearly paid off!

Erin and Ruth watched as Emma raced out the room, before exchanging similar looks of confusion with each other.

"What did I do?" Tariq asked crestfallen.

"I think the smell of your cream made her sick again," Erin said.

"Oh," Tariq replied, frowning. "I thought it smelt quite nice; it's got a slight jasmine scent. It's not even that strong anyway."

"No it's not," Ruth noted thoughtfully.

"What's going on?" Sasha asked, joining the congregation to find what the cause of all the hustle and bustle was.

"Emma doesn't like my new moisturiser," Tariq retorted sulkily.

"Moisturiser?!" Sasha exclaimed.

"It helps with my cracked elbows, ok," Tariq said defensively.

Sasha frowned, and Erin rolled her eyes at him.

"Where is Emma now?" Sasha asked.

"She ran out…" Tariq began before Ruth promptly interrupted him.

"To get me some crisps. I told her I was starving so she kindly offered to pick me up a packet from the cafeteria."

"Why was she running then?" Sasha asked suspiciously, having picked up on what Tariq had said early.

"She wanted to beat the queues. That place is gets chock-a-block around mid-morning, what with everyone wanting their elevens' and everything," Ruth told him, convincingly enough for Sasha to nod and ask no further questions. That was until Emma returned a little later, empty-handed.

Ruth quickly interjected, "Oh no! Were they out of _Quavers_?"

Emma looked at her, startled and confused, before noticing Sasha's close presence and quickly catching on, "Yes, unfortunately there were none left."

"Oh, what a shame! Section C always manages to snap them up first. I was really looking forward to them as well," Ruth said, feigning disappointment. "Never mind, thanks for looking for me, Emma."

"No problem," Emma said, heading back to her desk. She walked past Tariq, who was glaring at her.

Ruth then glanced at her watch before commenting: "Well it's practically time for my break now anyway, so I think I'll nip to the shops and get a packet myself."

Ruth then went to collect her coat, but while she was there, she also picked up Emma's.

"Why don't you come with me Emma and we could maybe drop by Starbucks on the way?" Ruth suggested.

"Well, my break's not for another hour yet…" Emma started; the thought of even walking past a coffee shop was enough to make her almost throw up again.

"Oh Harry won't mind," Ruth insisted. He would mind, but then she'd do that thing that he liked when they were at home this evening, and all would be forgotten and forgiven. "I could do with some company."

"Ummm," Emma stalled; trying to think of another excuse, but by this point Ruth had thrust her coat upon her and was practically dragging her out of her seat. "Ok then, I guess."

"Thanks for covering for me back there," Emma said to Ruth as they walked out of the building.

"That's ok; I know you don't want to worry Sasha."

"Yes, I meant there's no point as I'm probably fine. I've just got a weak stomach at the moment. So, for that reason would you mind if we went somewhere other than Starbucks, somewhere that doesn't have such a strong smell of coffee, perhaps?"

"We can go anywhere you want. That was just a spur of the moment suggestion to get you off The Grid so we could talk," Ruth explained.

"Talk about what?" Emma asked innocently, though she knew what was coming.

"I just think we should have a chat that's all, so where do you want go?"

"Could we maybe just sit here?" Emma pointed at the benches on South Bank overlooking The Thames. "Unless of course you really are desperate for some _Quavers_, that is"

"Oh, I think I'll just about manage to survive without them!" Ruth joked as she took a seat. "I don't even like them that much; I'm not sure why I said them. I'm more of a _Skips _kind of girl to be honest."

"Really! Well I'm partial to a bag of _Wotsits_ myself!" Emma revealed with a grin, sitting beside her colleague and pulling her coat tightly around herself to block out some of the cold wind.

They both giggled lightly before Ruth switched to a more serious tone to ask: "Are you alright Emma?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I told it's just I've got a…"

"Weak stomach, I know you did," Ruth finished the sentence for her. "It's just, are you quite sure? I mean, it might be something else."

Emma gulped and looked away. She wasn't ready to have this conversation, not even with herself let alone anyone else.

"It's just you've been being sick a lot recently, and you've clearly got a heightened sense of smell, plus you seem to be quite tired lately, and emotional too," Ruth relayed the symptoms. She was trying to broach the subject as delicately as she could, not wanting to make Emma uncomfortable.

"Damn you, Ruth, must you always be so bloody observant?" Emma said, shaking her head.

"I know, I know, it's a curse, I'm sorry," Ruth said, smiling faintly. "I just care about you, that's all."

"I know," Emma sighed.

"Are you late?" Ruth asked.

"Yes, we both are. We should get back to work now before Harry implodes," Emma tried to joke but her tone fell flat. She wasn't going to get out of this one so easily.

Ruth frowned and looked Emma in the eyes. "Emma it's me, I'm here for you. This will just be between me and you. I hate to think of you bottling everything up by yourself. So talk to me, please, and I can help you through it. So are you?"

Emma sucked in a deep breath of air through her teeth before squeaking out: "Yes."

She then promptly proceeded to burst into tears.

It had only just hit Emma herself earlier-probably at the same time as Ruth had realised-when she was slumped on the bathroom floor. Dates had begun flooding her mind. She began doing the sums and piecing the puzzle together. She let out an audible gasp as the realisation came to light. But she quickly suppressed her shock by telling herself that she must be wrong. She told herself it couldn't possibly be that, she didn't want it to be, so it wasn't, she wasn't…

"Are you pregnant?" Ruth asked quietly, leaning in towards Emma.

"I think…I think…I…mmmight…be," Emma managed through her sobs.

Ruth pulled her into her arms and held her tight. She stroked her hair and rubbed a soothing hand across her shaking back, comforting her, and shielding her from the passing public who were staring at the scene.

"Don't worry, you'll be ok. I'm here, calm yourself," Ruth told her, still hugging her protectively. She had never had children of her own, but in many ways she looked upon Emma as a daughter. Ruth had known her from when Emma had joined the section straight from university, and over the years the pair had built a strong relationship. Ruth had been there for Emma many times in the past and was always willing to support her through anything. Ruth recognised that if ever there was a time where Emma was in need of a mother figure to provide such support, it was now. And she was more than ready to step up to the plate.

* * *

Ruth had tried to persuade Emma to take the rest of the day off and rest, but to no avail.

"You may be able to get away with such a thing, but unlike you, I'm not sleeping with the boss," Emma had joked, having finally finished crying by this point.

Ruth blushed. "If I told him you weren't well, I'm sure he'd understand."

"It's fine; work will be a good distraction. Plus, I don't want Sasha to suspect anything," Emma said, beginning to walk back to Thames House.

"You won't be able to avoid it forever though, when are you going to discuss it with him?"

"Not until I know for sure," Emma stated.

"And when will that be?" Ruth persisted.

"Whenever I get a chance to pick up a test or go to the doctor's I guess," Emma said with a shrug; the longer she avoided finding out, the longer she had to pretend that this wasn't really happening.

Ruth had of course sussed Emma out though, and was not going to allow her to put it off for too long, as she knew it would only make the situation worse. She continued to broach the subject as tactfully as ever though, "I could pick you up a test if you're too embarrassed. I could go in my afternoon break."

"No, Ruth, really it's fine you don't have to do that," Emma told her, shaking her head. She continued walking briskly towards the entrance of their work place, until Ruth suddenly stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Emma, you've got to face up to this. The sooner you know for sure, the better, because then you'll have more time to make a decision about…the future. You can't just avoid what's happening in hope that it will just go away, because it won't. I know you're scared, of course you are, but I'm here to help you," Ruth told her.

"I know. Ok then," Emma relented. Ruth was, as always, right. "Thanks Ruth, for everything."

"No problem, you know I mean it," she replied, before the pair turned and headed back into work.

They returned to an angry Harry. "Where the hell have you two been? I've been trying to get hold of you. A matter of great urgency has just come up."

"Sorry, love, we were just having our morning break," Ruth apologised, her doe-eyes softening Harry instantly.

"Right, ok, well now you're back we can get on with proceedings."

"What's happened?" Emma asked.

"Azba Khan," Harry stated.

"The extremist I've been turning," Emma said.

"The very one. It turns out that the terrorist cell he's part of has connections to AQ, and we've just received intel suggesting that they're planning an attack here in the UK. The decoded message indicates that if successful, it will result in thousands of causalities. Time and target is unknown, however we know it is going to be soon, and most probably here in the capital. We need to you to meet with Khan immediately to get the details from him," Harry explained hurriedly.

"But he's not even close to becoming a trusted asset, as shown by the fact that he didn't warn me about this upcoming attack. Besides, he probably doesn't even know all the details himself yet," Emma pointed out, struggling to see how she would be able carry out the task effectively.

"Well he's the only hope we've got, so you're going to have to get something out of him, and fast. We need to act quickly on this one, Emma, so set up a meet with him now," Harry ordered.

"Ok," Emma complied, though still skeptical.

An hour later, Emma was getting ready to leave to see Khan. She was fitting her ear piece, when Harry came over to speak with her privately.

"I understand that is a delicate situation, and that Khan is far from being a trusted source. He is an unpredictable character I know, which is why we'll have armed police surrounding the building. We've got surveillance inside, so we'll be here watching his every move. If he tries anything, people will be there to step in, but try not to let it get to that if you can help it. You're going to need to push him, but tread carefully as you do so. You said it yourself that over the past few months, he's become much closer to the ring leader of the cell, so I've got a feeling he does know the target, especially seeing as the attack is most probably planned for so soon. Do everything you possibly can to get the information out of him. I know you've only been working on him for a short while, but I think you've built up enough of a relationship for him to trust you. I have every faith that you are capable of squeezing the information out of him."

Emma nodded along as Harry talked. She knew how serious the threat was, and she also knew that what Harry was effectively telling her was-albeit dressed up as a polite pep talk-that under no circumstances, must she come out from the meeting without the target and time of the attack.

As Emma headed towards the pods, Harry called out: "Emma, you must do…whatever it takes to find out."

Emma nodded slightly; she knew what that meant.

* * *

"Emma you're doing really well, he's close, I can feel it, just keep working on him," Erin spoke encouragingly into her headset from The Grid.

Harry swiped the headset from his Section Chief to listen in on the conversation between Emma and Khan himself. He was close to buckling, but needed a nudge. "You're going to need to be a little more drastic," Harry directed. "You need to be persuasive enough to make him want to tell you."

Emma took on board his instructions. "I just wish our circumstances were different," she said to Khan.

Azba looked puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

"It's silly really, I know, as we've only met a few times but I feel like we've forged some sort of bond over the past few months, like we've become quite close. Or maybe that's just me, it probably is," Emma said coyly. "It's just perhaps maybe in a different life we could, well…be more...together."

"How do you mean?" Khan asked, intrigued.

Harry sighed in satisfaction; Azba was falling head first into the honey trap, just like he knew he would.

The whole section was watching the interaction between Emma and her asset take place. Everyone was on tenterhooks, looking on intently as the scene played out.

Only Harry could hear what was going on though. He praised her through the coms, "Well done Emma, I know this is difficult for you, but it will be worth it in the end, I assure you."

Sasha was the most concerned out of everyone. "What is she doing? Why is she getting so close to him? Surely that's not safe," he said.

"She's doing what she needs to do to protect her country," Harry stated.

By this point the pair were merely inches apart from one another and it was clear what was about to happen.

"No!" Sasha cried out. "You can't let her do that, don't make her do that Harry! Let me talk to her." He reached out to take the ear piece from his father but was stopped by Dimitri who gripped his wrist strongly.

"Come on, mate, let's get you away from here, it's probably best if you don't watch this," Dimitri said, pulling Sasha away from the screen.

"No, I'm not going anywhere; I won't let this happen…" Sasha shouted, but it was too late; Emma was kissing Azba. Her soft lips were crushing against his. His hands were gripping her against him. She ran her fingers softly through his hair, just like she did when she kissed Sasha.

In that moment, the rest of the world around him stopped for Sasha; he was unaware of Dimitri trying to tug him away, unaware of Tariq practically gnawing through his pen from the tension, and he was unaware of Erin reassuring him: "It doesn't mean anything, she's working. She had no other choice." All he could focus on in that moment was his girlfriend being kissed by another man, being held by another man, another man who wasn't him. 'Why does she have to make it seem so…believable?' he asked himself, agonising over the scene that he saw before him.

The kiss seemed to go on for eternity. When they did finally break away, Sasha felt numb. He didn't know what to do or say; he just stood there, still and silent. He was only forced out of his trance some time later when the congregation around him suddenly burst into action. He heard his father shouting orders.

"Get the bomb squad down to Trafalgar Square. NOW!"

"Try and evacuate if possible."

"Send C019 down to seize the members of the cell."

"Block off the surrounding streets so nobody else can be let in; we need to keep this contained."

"Get me the Home Secretary on the phone."

Sasha was not part of the commotion; he remained stood motionless in the middle of it all as everyone else ran around him in an adrenaline-fuelled frenzy.

A little while later he heard a collective sigh of a relief from the team as Harry confirmed: "The bomb has been diffused."

So she'd done it. Emma had saved the day, and just in the nick of time by the sounds of it. She had just followed orders by doing what was necessary. What she did was for the greater good. Sasha knew this; he knew that it was just part of her job. He also knew that it could have been a lot worse in that it only took one kiss for her to get Khan in a suitably vulnerable state for him to reveal all. Even though Sasha was fully aware of all this, it didn't make it any less painful.

**A/N: So Ruth is on to Emma. Well of course she would be! Also, dramatic Harry is my favourite kind of Harry!**

**I know this chapter was quite intense, but the next update will be much more amusing, I promise!**

**Please continue to review, you lot are great!**


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update but I've been crazy busy going to uni open days and stuff. Anyway, here is the next chapter. There's a little additional drama but with some light hearted Erin/Dimitri moments to break it up, plus...even more vom!**

**Chapter Eight**

"Do you think I look better in red or black?" Erin asked Dimitri.

"Umm…both," he replied, unsure of what was the right answer.

"That's not very helpful. I'm trying to decide what colour dress to buy for the Christmas party. I've only got two days so please help me decide," Erin told him as she scrolled down through the pages of frocks on the Topshop website.

"Well, why don't you go with red as it's more of a Christmassy colour," Dimitri offered. "Plus it compliments your pale skin, and brings out the natural scarlet shade of your lips."

"Look at my lips often, do you?" Erin turned to question him.

"Er, no, I just noticed once before when you wore a red blouse. Anyway…wear whatever you want," Dimitri stumbled through his words, his cheeks turning their own shade of scarlet. He then mumbled something about paperwork and Erin smirked as she watched him then quickly shuffle away.

"What are you wearing to the Christmas party, Emma?" Erin asked her friend.

"Um, I haven't decided yet," Emma said.

"So you're just as unorganised as me then. That makes me feel a little better. I tell you what, how about we go shopping for dresses after work tomorrow?" Erin suggested.

"Yeah sure, that sounds like a good idea. Anyway I better be off, see you tomorrow," Emma said, waving everybody goodbye as she hurriedly left The Grid.

Sasha was already waiting in the car when she got to the car park.

"Hey," she greeted him apprehensively; they hadn't discussed the events from earlier in the day yet.

"Hi," he said with a smile, though Emma could tell it was forced.

The journey remained silent for a while before Emma finally plucked up the courage to bring up the elephant in the room-or vehicle as it was-and say: "I had to do it."

"I know," Sasha stated solemnly, not looking at her as he spoke.

"I had to act fast and it was my only option, if there was any other way, I wouldn't have…done it," Emma told him.

"It's part of your job, you did what you had to do, I understand that," Sasha said, still staring directly out of the windscreen in front of him.

"So, you're not pissed off with me?" Emma asked.

"Of course not," Sasha replied, though Emma was not convinced he was being genuine.

"It's totally understandable if you're annoyed. But just know that I didn't want to do it and I didn't enjoy it, not for one second. I was just focused on the overall outcome; I knew innocent lives were at stake," Emma explained.

"I get that," Sasha said. He paused briefly before adding: "But it doesn't make the sight of my girlfriend kissing another man any easier to stomach."

Emma sighed; this was what she had been worried about.

"I'm sorry you had to see it. That must have been horrible for you. I wish you hadn't," she told him, her eyes brimming once again.

"So do I," Sasha replied. He then noticed as Emma wiped the corners of her eyes, and asked: "Emma, are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine, just being over-emotional that's all," she said.

"It must have been awful for you too," Sasha stated, taking one hand off the wheel to rub his girlfriend's leg.

"Yes," she said. But that wasn't the only reason she was crying. The chaotic afternoon at work had distracted her from the morning's revelations. She had almost forgotten about the possibility of her being pregnant…until now.

"It's all over now though," Sasha comforted her as he began parking the car. He would try to put the image of the kiss at the back of his mind and leave it there. He knew it would do no good for either of them to dwell on it.

Emma nodded, and gulped back her tears. She didn't know how she'd ever tell him if she was having his baby. How would he react? They'd only been together less than a year. It was completely unplanned. She didn't even know if he wanted kids.

But then again, she might not be pregnant. Emma kept telling herself this, but in her heart of hearts, she knew, felt even, that she was. She didn't know why, but she knew. And that scared the shit out of her.

It was all she could think about for the rest of the evening. The worry completely consumed her; she could barely hold a conversation with Sasha. So, she feigned tiredness, and told him she was having an early night before he started asking any questions. However, once she was in bed, she barely slept. She was restless; tossing and turning constantly, only still when she pretended to be asleep once Sasha came to join her. She was still awake even after he had dropped off. She stole a few moments of sleep here in there through the night, but those moments were far from peaceful. Instead they were filled with nightmares. She dreamt that she was pregnant, and Sasha left her. She dreamt of a horrible birth, and a screaming baby. But the worst dream she had was being on an operation at work with a heavy baby bump when she was shot in the stomach. It felt so frighteningly real; she could almost feel the blood spilling from her, and almost hear the screams of anguish coming from the people around her. She woke suddenly, her face layered in both sweat and tears. She couldn't get back to sleep again at all after that.

* * *

The following day at work, once Sasha had left with Erin and Dimitri to go on a surveillance operation, Ruth slid up to Emma and began talking quietly to her.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Ok, actually. I haven't been sick this morning, which is nice," Emma revealed. "So maybe I did just have some sort of virus, and now I'm finally recovering."

"Mmm maybe," Ruth said. "But I got you the test anyway so you can find out for sure. What with everything that was going on yesterday, I didn't get a chance to pick you one up until after work. I've got it with me today though, so you can use it later."

"Oh right, thanks," Emma said, attempting to sound grateful, but quite obviously failing.

"Remember what I said, the sooner you know, the better. Sasha won't be back for an hour at least, so you could do it before he returns if you'd rather," Ruth suggested.

"Um, yes, ok," Emma said, physically shaking at the prospect of actually having to find out for sure. But she knew, as Ruth said, that it was something she needed to do soon. "I'll do it in my break."

Over the next half an hour, Emma got very little work done. She watched the clock as time got closer and closer to her break. Her stomach was in knots. She felt sick again, but in a different way to the previous days, and it was worse. She was terrified. She was far more scared than she had ever been on an operation at work, and she had found herself in some dangerous situations during her time at MI5.

By the time it finally reached her break, Emma was a wreck. Ruth came over to subtly give Emma the box containing her purchase and patted her back encouragingly. "It's going to be ok, whatever the outcome, I promise."

"You don't know that," Emma said.

"I do, Sasha, like his father, is a good man. He'll be there for you. So you mustn't worry about that," Ruth reassured her.

Emma hummed doubtfully.

"And besides, as you said yourself, I am always right," Ruth joked, smiling softly.

Emma gave a nervous laugh. "Ok then, well I best get this over with then."

Ruth watched Emma leave. She then waited nervously for her return. She was so distracted thinking about Emma that she didn't notice Harry approaching behind her. He made her jump when he went to kiss her on the cheek.

"Gosh, Harry I didn't see you there," she said.

"Are you alright? You seem a little unnerved," he asked.

"No, no, I'm fine," Ruth reassured him.

"Well, ok if you say so," Harry said. "Anyway, I noticed you seemed to be having a rather hushed chat with Emma just now. Is everything ok?"

"Oh that, well, yes everything's ok. I think she was just a bit upset about yesterday; I don't think it went down too well with Sasha," Ruth told him.

"Ah, yes, I was rather concerned that that might be the case. I don't think he's too happy with me either, for prompting her in what she did," Harry said, having noticed his son giving him the cold shoulder that morning.

"No, well you ought to have a chat with him. Tomorrow, perhaps, might be a good opportunity at the Christmas party," Ruth suggested.

"Yes, I think I had better," Harry agreed. "I'd best go and start planning what I'm going to say to him now," he added before kissing Ruth on the cheek again, and heading back to his office to begin mentally drafting a speech to his son.

Just as he did, Emma walked back into the room. Ruth bounded up to her.

"So?" she asked eagerly.

"I don't know," Emma told her.

"What do you mean?" Ruth asked, confused. "Didn't you do it?"

"I did it, but I couldn't bring myself to look. You're going to have to do it for me," Emma confessed.

"Oh, um, ok then, give it here then," Ruth held out her hand.

"Could we maybe go somewhere a little more private do you think," Emma said.

Ruth nodded and the pair headed to the far corner of the room, where they were only in view of Tariq, who was busy tapping away at his computer, seemingly unaware of their presence.

Emma then retrieved the test from her pocket and gave it to Ruth, who was using her free hand to hold onto Emma's.

Emma squeezed her eyes tightly shut, as she waited for Ruth to deliver the news. There was a brief pause as Ruth checked the test, then checked it again, before revealing the result.

"It's positive," she stated.

Emma was silent. Ruth's voice was ringing in her ears; the sentence that had just passed her lips continued playing over and over again in her head. It was making her dizzy. She leant against the wall for support, but she was still visibly shaking. Ruth was worried.

"Emma, say something," she said.

Emma didn't respond, she just continued to stare straight ahead, her eyes glazed over, her brow creased, and her limbs still trembling.

"Emma," Ruth tried again.

"It can't be," Emma finally whispered. "It can't be positive. I'm on The Pill!"

"It is, I'm not lying, see look here," Ruth showed her the test. And sure enough, there were two clear lines on the stick before her. It was at that point that Emma became suddenly hysterical.

"But I can't be pregnant," she whimpered. "I'm not the right age to be pregnant, I'm not at the right stage in my relationship to be pregnant, and I'm certainly not in the right job to be pregnant! Oh God, Ruth, what am I going to do?"

"Ok, Emma, how about you start by taking a few deep breaths so you can think about this sensibly," Ruth suggested, attempting to calm her down. "First thing's first, you need to talk to Sasha. He's the father of this baby, so he needs to know."

"But what if he leaves me!" Emma cried.

"Don't be so silly. He'd never do such a thing," Ruth told her, and she was truthfully certain.

"But it might scare him away. We haven't been together long…and we're both so young…and he might not even want children," Emma said breathlessly between sobs.

"You don't know that, which is why you need to talk to him. Don't forget you've got plenty of options. It's the twenty-first century; you do not have to have this baby, should you decide you do not want to," Ruth reasoned.

"But that's the thing, I don't know whether I do or not, because I've never really thought about it before. I mean, when I got this job I just assumed I would never get the chance to settle down and have kids. And now suddenly I'm faced with this massive decision, and I have no idea what to do!" Emma confessed, growing a more and more distressed by the second.

"But you don't have to take this on by yourself. You've got Sasha, and you've got me," Ruth told her, taking hold of Emma's shoulders to try and steady her.

"What would you do, Ruth, honestly?" Emma asked.

Ruth paused. "I'm not you, so I can't answer that. I'm here to support you, but I can't make the decision for you."

"I know, but if you were in my exact situation, what would you do?" Emma asked again.

"Emma, I can't…"

"Ruth, please just tell me," Emma pleaded.

"It's not up to me," Ruth stated.

"I know it isn't, but I just want to know what you would do if you were stood in my shoes right now," Emma continued to push for an answer.

Ruth was silent for a while. Then she sighed. "If it was me personally, and I was your age, and I had your job, and I was with someone whom I loved dearly, like you do Sasha, then I'd keep it. But that doesn't necessarily mean that _you_ should."

"Thank you," Emma said, having heard what she needed to, and feeling much calmer by this point.

Ruth nodded. "It'll be ok."

"I hope so," Emma exhaled.

"But you must tell Sasha," Ruth added, as she wiped away the mascara stains from Emma's eyes.

"I know, I will," Emma promised.

"I think you're underestimating him as a boyfriend and as a man; he won't abandon you. He'll stand by you, but you just need to give him the opportunity to do so."

Emma nodded. They began making their way back to their desks.

"Do I look dreadful?" Emma asked, straining to catch the reflection of herself in her computer screen.

"No, you're eyes are little puffy, but nothing that can't be passed off as tiredness," Ruth reassured her.

A little later, she added: "Will you tell him tonight?"

"I'm going shopping with Erin tonight, so it might have to wait until the next day," Emma revealed, only just remembering about the plans in that moment.

Ruth looked at her disapprovingly. "You can't put it off forever."

"I know, I won't," Emma vowed, but she would put it off for a little while.

* * *

"You alright, sweetie?" Erin asked Emma as they were milling around The House of Fraser, "it's just you seem a bit quiet."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Emma lied. "Just a bit tired, that's all."

"You're not still ill, or anything?" Erin inquired.

"No, I seem to have recovered," Emma told her, then proceeding to front the biggest smile that she could muster.

"Ok, well I'm glad to hear it," Erin replied. "Now, tell me, what do you think of this?"

Emma looked at the red cocktail dress Erin was holding up. It was asymmetric with a fishtail hem. It was a design difficult to pull off, though she knew that would be no problem for Erin. "It's fabulous, go try it on."

"I think I will. Have you found anything yet?" Erin asked.

"No, I just can't seem to find anything that I like the look of," Emma told her, though in all honestly she hadn't really been looking at all; only absent-mindedly sifting through the garments on the rails, not really taking any of it in, too preoccupied with the more pressing matters on her mind. That being said, she was glad to be out of the flat, away from Sasha. She wasn't ready to have the discussion with him yet, and shopping with Erin was the perfect diversion.

"What about this one?" Erin suggested, pulling out a little black dress from the rail, very little indeed, Emma noted.

The dress was nice admittedly, but it just looked so awfully short…and tight.

"Don't you think it's a little…revealing?" Emma worried.

"It's not that bad, and besides, you can pull it off," Erin told her, thrusting the dress at Emma. "Anyway, you might as well just try it on."

Emma didn't have a chance to respond; Erin was already dragging her off to the changing rooms.

After battling with the zip, Emma did eventually manage to get the dress on, and it felt even tighter than it looked. However, despite the fact that she was struggling to breathe, it did look pretty good on.

She stared at her reflection in the large mirror. The material of the garment seemed to accentuate every single curve of her body. So much so in fact, that for a moment, Emma could have sworn that she could see the slightest bump in her lower abdomen. She rubbed her hand across the area to feel for the extrusion. It felt tender-most probably from all the sickness-but she could feel no bump. Emma told herself to stop being so ridiculous, of course there was no bump. If her calculations were correct then she was only around 7 weeks gone, so the baby would be about the size of a grape. It wasn't even a baby yet, not even close.

"Can I come in?" Erin called, interrupting Emma's thoughts.

"Uh, yeah sure," Emma replied, pulling back the curtain for Erin to join her in the cubicle.

"Wow!" Erin exclaimed, eyeing Emma up and down. "I knew that dress would suit you. You look hot! And your boobs look so much bigger!"

"Er, thanks," Emma said, laughing. "You don't look so shabby yourself!"

"Really? Do you think red is the right colour for me though?" Erin inquired, striking a pose in the mirror that allowed her to look at the dress from behind.

"Definitely, it brings out the colour of your lips," Emma said.

Erin couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"What?" Emma asked in response to her friend's small outburst.

"Oh nothing; it's just you're not the first person to say that. Anyway, how about we go and pay for these dresses, then head out for something to eat?" Erin suggested, quickly changing the subject.

"So you think I should get this one then?" Emma asked, still concerned that it might expose a bit too much flesh for a work gathering.

"Oh definitely. It's stunning. Though poor Sasha might have some trouble keeping his hands off you," Erin said with a wicked grin. "But if the worst comes to worse, he can always have his way with you in the stationary cupboard!"

"Erin!" Emma exclaimed, blushing a shade brighter crimson than her friend's dress.

Erin laughed as she made her way back to her own dressing room to change.

* * *

It wasn't until the pair began tucking into their pudding that Emma decided to bring up the subject of Erin's daughter. She had wanted to ask her about Rosie since the beginning of the meal, but she had been contemplating how exactly the best way to broach the topic was. She knew she needed to tread carefully; she didn't want to arouse any suspicions in Erin, nor did she want to upset her by crossing any personal boundaries.

"How is Rosie?" Emma finally asked.

"She's great! She's with mum at the moment. But I've promised to get up early with her tomorrow to practice her spellings with her. She's got a test, you see," Erin explained, her eyes quite clearly lighting up as she spoke about her child.

"So, she's just as dedicated as her mother then?" Emma said.

"Yes, it would seem so. She's already such a little perfectionist," Erin revealed.

"That's no bad thing," Emma commented. She paused before proceeding, "Erin, what is like, being a mother, whilst having the job that we do?"

"Difficult," Erin stated, taking a sip of her wine before continuing, "but I wouldn't change it for the world. I mean of course I feel guilty about leaving her because of the unsociable hours, and I worry that I'm putting her in danger. But I also know that I'd go to the ends of the Earth to protect her. I wouldn't let anything happen to her, I couldn't, I just…can't even think about it."

Emma noticed Erin falter: "Sorry, I didn't intend to upset you."

"No you haven't, it's fine. I just love her to pieces. I love my job too though, and I have to believe that I can be in this line of work, and still balance a family at the same time. I have to believe that to stay sane, you know. But at the end of the day, she will always come first. I made that promise the day that I found out I was pregnant," Erin confessed.

"How old were you?" Emma asked,

"Not much older than you, I was 25 when I fell pregnant and 26 when I had her. She wasn't exactly planned, I mean her father and I had practically broken up by the time I found out the news."

"Did you know for definite that you would keep her though?"

"I considered my other options, of course. I mean I wasn't exactly in an ideal situation, but all along I knew, deep down, that I wanted her, needed her even, and not once since have I ever regretted the decision to bring her into the world," Erin told her.

By this point, Emma was barely holding it together. She let out a sniffle.

"Don't, you'll start me off in a minute!" Erin exclaimed.

"Sorry, I'm being so silly I know. It's just lovely how you two have obviously got such a close relationship," Emma said. She cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her once again, worried that it could cause Erin to begin to suspect.

"We do. I know some people may not agree with my decision to have child and still hold down the job that I do, but I like to think that I'm making it work, and proving all those doubters wrong. Yes, I may be a spook, but I'm a mother, foremost, and I recognise that. Rosie comes above everything and anyone else, and always will do," Erin said, tearing up a little herself, which was a rare sight.

"What are we like?!" Emma cried. "Since when did spies get so emotional?"

"It's what having children does to you!" Erin said.

Emma laughed but turned away so that Erin could not see the look in her eyes that could very well have revealed the truth.

* * *

"Hey," Sasha called out as Emma entered her flat later that evening.

"Hi," Emma replied. "I thought you might have been asleep by now." Though in reality, it was more like she had been hoping that he'd be asleep. She didn't know how to act around him knowing that she had such a big secret that she needed to let him in on as soon as she could pluck up enough courage. It was just easier not to have to interact with him at all during this time.

"I wanted to wait up until you got home," he revealed, getting up off the sofa to greet his girlfriend.

"Awh, how lovely of you," Emma said, dropping her keys and shopping to receive Sasha's hug.

"So, you got your dress, then?" Sasha commented, eyeing up the bag on the floor.

"I did!"

"Can I see it?" Sasha asked.

"Not until tomorrow!" Emma teased.

Sasha laughed. "Ok then, well I look forward to it!"

He then noticed Emma turn suddenly pale. "Are you alright?"

"Um, yes," Emma told him unconvincingly. Her stomach was lurching. And here was her thinking that the sickness had subsided

"Are you sure? It's just you don't look very well," Sasha said worriedly, gripping Emma's arms to keep her upright. "Can I get you some water or something?"

Emma opened her mouth to reply, but felt the dinner that she had recently eaten starting to make its way back up, so made a quick dash to the bathroom. She was in such a hurry to get there, that she didn't have a chance to lock the door behind her.

Sasha was close on her tail; rushing after her. He considered waiting outside for her when he heard the sounds of her being sick inside the bathroom, but he was too worried, so instead decided to accompany her.

"Emma!" he exclaimed, horrified to see her so ill.

She wanted to tell him to go away; embarrassed that he was seeing her in such a state, but she was too weak, and too sick to do so. _So much for morning sickness; more like constant 24/7 sickness, _she contemplated as she was throwing up.

Sasha tried to comfort her by rubbing her back and holding back her hair as best he could.

When she was finished, Emma sat back breathlessly against the sink. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she apologised.

"Don't be, I'm just worried about you, are you ok?" Sasha asked.

"Yes, I'm feeling a little better now. It must have been the chicken I had for dinner; I didn't think that restaurant looked particularly hygienic. We never should have gone in there," Emma lied.

Sasha nodded, seemingly buying her story. Though, she recognised that she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

"I'll go and get you that glass of water, and then we'll get you into bed. You need to get some rest," Sasha said.

He came back with her drink, and then practically carried her to bed. He helped undress her and then pulled the covers over her, tucking her in.

"How did I end up with such a wonderfully attentive and caring boyfriend, hey?" she said weakly.

He shushed her quiet, before kissing her on the cheek and telling her: "Get some sleep."

She followed his orders; falling asleep almost instantly, not having realised how exhausted she was after such a difficult day.

**A/N: I don't know about you but I quite like the friendship between Emma and Erin developing. **

**What did you think?**


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N: I hope you didn't think I had forgotten about this fic. I'm sorry it has been so long but time has been running away from me recently. I have been busy honestly; house-hunting and doing other dull adult tasks.**

**This chapter was probably my favourite one to write so far though. It's time for the MI5 Christmas party, and like every good party, there are hook-ups, arguments, drunken antics, tears, and tantrums!**

**Chapter Nine**

Sasha had tried to stop Emma from going in to work the following day, he really had. But as hard as he tried to persuade her, it had not been enough to wear her down. She had stubbornly insisted that she felt better and was absolutely well enough to go to work. She was determined to go in; there was no way that she could stand a whole day alone in the flat, just thinking…thinking about her situation. She needed work to take her mind off things. A day off would send her crazy, she was certain of it. So in the end he had relented, even though he didn't entirely believe her. He could tell that she wasn't completely better, even though her sickness had subsided, she still didn't seem be completely recovered; she was still somewhat unsettled. And that concerned him.

So, he made sure to watch her closely throughout the whole day, checking up on her regularly to ensure that she was ok. So much so that she became quite irritable with him in the end.

"Sasha, for the hundredth time, I'm fine, so will you please just leave me alone to get on with my work," she snapped.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you that's all," he apologised.

Emma felt instantly guilty. She knew that he was just being a caring boyfriend. She hadn't meant to be so blunt.

"I know you are," she said, turning to smile at him. "But there's no need to be as I'm ok, honestly."

"Just as long as you're sure," he said, before planting a kiss on her cheek and returning to his own desk.

"I am," she called out, and she wished that it was not a lie.

"And how are you Erin, are you ok?" Sasha asked on his way back. Erin was just coming through the pods, having been on an operation all day.

"Fine," she answered a little suspiciously; she'd only been to meet with a Grade C asset, so nothing too dangerous. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Emma looked up, alarmed by their conversation.

"It's just Emma got sick from the meal you two had yesterday. I was just checking you didn't have the chicken too," Sasha explained.

"Chicken?!" Erin inquired; she was sure that Emma had just had a Caesar salad.

Emma sat helplessly at her desk. Thankfully for her, Ruth had also caught on to the situation, and was quick enough to step in.

"Um sorry to interrupt," Ruth began. "And I know you've only just got back Erin, but could you possibly help me finish the reports for Six because they want them by the end of the day."

"Yeah sure," Erin agreed. "We better hurry though, so that we've still got enough time to get ready for the party tonight."

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed 'Thank you' at Ruth when nobody was looking. Sometimes she wondered what she'd do without that woman in her life.

Fortunately, Sasha didn't think anything of Erin's confused response, and consequently dropped the subject thereafter. But Emma was aware that next time she might not be so lucky. She knew that sooner or later he would begin to suspect. And besides, he had a right to know. She had to tell him. She just wasn't sure how to.

* * *

"Holy shit, you look incredible," Sasha told Emma as she entered the living room, having just finished getting ready.

Emma giggled, and did a twirl for her boyfriend. "So you like the dress then?"

"I love the dress. And I love you in it. But at the same I'd quite like to see you out of it right now," Sasha confessed, feeling his pulse race as he took in the sight of his girlfriend. He always found her gorgeous of course, but there was just something about her tonight, that made her look positively blooming.

Emma laughed at the fact that Erin's predictions had been proved correct once again. "Well, I'm afraid there's no time for that as I just got a call to say that our taxi is here."

Sasha sighed. "Well, that is a shame. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep my hands off you tonight!"

"Well you're going to have to try to as I'm not sure your father would approve of us fornicating in the middle of The Grid!" Emma said, remembering Harry's words on the phone that time.

"What does he expect?! It is a work Christmas party after all," Sasha commented, as he helped Emma into her coat.

"Fair point. Hey, if he gets enough whiskey down him, it might be him and Ruth who end up in the stationary cupboard…fornicating," Emma joked, picking up her clutch bag as the pair headed out the door.

"You never know!" Sasha said as he locked up. "However, I have a feeling it's more likely to be Erin and Dimitri."

"Really?! You think they'll finally hook up," Emma replied hopefully; the undeniable sexual tension between them was becoming almost unbearable for everyone else in the office.

"Well, if Dimitri has his way then they will."

"It's certainly about time that they got together. Mind you, Tariq might throw a curve ball by getting off with one of the girls from Section C!" Emma joked as they made their way down the stairs.

Sasha laughed heartily. "Good luck to him! Anyway, we will soon see."

"Indeed we will. It should be a good night," Emma commented.

She was looking forward to letting her hair down after the stress of the last few days, though obviously she'd have to think of an excuse for not drinking any alcohol. But she'd still be able to enjoy herself, and it would be good fun to spend an evening with her colleagues in a social environment for once. She was planning on making the most of the event as her last opportunity to forget about all her worries before she broke the news to Sasha, which she was planning on doing the following day.

* * *

"Dimitri is totally checking you out right now," Emma leaned in to notify Erin subtly.

Erin smirked as she took a sip of her drink, and looked over towards Dimitri, who quickly looked away as she caught his gaze.

"Busted," Tariq said to Dimitri who was stood at his side.

"What, do you think she saw me looking at her?" Dimitri asked.

"She definitely saw," Sasha broke the news to his pal.

"But it's fine though, because she was totally giving you the eye back," Tariq told him.

"Really, you think?" Dimitri asked hopefully.

"Definitely," Tariq confirmed, nodding.

"I mean, she's wearing red, after I told her she looks best in red. So, she took my advice, which has got to be a good sign, right?" Dimitri inquired.

"Right," Sasha confirmed.

"Clearly she's into you, so you might as well go over there and ask her out. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Tariq said.

"Oh, I don't know. Her turning me down, crushing me in front of all my colleagues, leaving me to do the walk of shame back to my wingmen, defeated and hopeless. Consequently causing it to be unbearably awkward between us back at work, so much so, that I'm forced to return to the SBS, and live a life of regret," Dimitri responded solemnly.

Sasha and Tariq both raised their eyebrows at each other. There was a moment's silence between them before Sasha said optimistically: "Or…you could get laid tonight."

Tariq nodded, and put a hand on Dimitri's shoulder as he told him: "Look mate, you might as well. It's the perfect situation because if she turns you down, then afterwards you can just pass it off as a drunken gesture and she won't be able to make anything of it. It's now or never."

"Alright, I'll do it," Dimitri said, exhaling deeply.

"Good man," Sasha encouraged.

Dimitri gulped down the rest of his beer, before straightening his tie, sticking his chest out, and heading off towards his fate.

"Good luck," Tariq called out behind him.

"Look who's coming over," Emma said to Erin as she spotted Dimitri approaching. "I best leave you to it."

Emma turned to leave and speak to Ruth, but just before she did, she quietly said to her friend: "Be nice, now."

"I'll do my best," Erin replied, before looking up at the man who now nervously stood before her.

"Oh man, I hope he doesn't crash and burn," Tariq said to Sasha.

"He'll be ok," Sasha said, confidently. "It's just you who needs to be paired up with somebody now."

Tariq laughed a little forcefully. "Nah, I don't have time for any of that."

"You don't want a girlfriend?" Sasha asked.

"It's not that I don't want one, I just don't need one," Tariq tried to explain.

"So you're not going to mind being the only one in Section D who's not part of a couple?" Sasha questioned. He hadn't meant it to, but his inquiry had come across a little harsh.

Tariq tried to brush it off. "Not really, it's all a bit incestuous if you ask me, and besides, we don't know if things are gonna work out with Dimitri and…" he trailed off as he turned to look at the pair in question, who were currently engaged in a very passionate public display of affection.

"At last," Emma said with a sigh. "I thought they were never going to get it on; they almost took as long as you and Harry."

Ruth giggled, blushing slightly.

"I'm pleased for them. I just hope it lasts and is not just a drunken fling that they'll go on to regret," Ruth commented, as she watched the pair continue to kiss hungrily.

"No, I have a feeling it will be for the long-term," Emma replied.

"Anyway," Ruth said, averting her gaze from the scene, "how are you doing?"

"Ok, I'm going to tell Sasha tomorrow," Emma revealed.

"Good," Ruth said, "do you have any idea how you're going to go about it?"

"Nope, I'm just going to have to wing it," Emma confessed.

"Sometimes that's for the best," Ruth replied.

Emma hummed in agreement, before suddenly noting the disappearance of Dimitri and Erin.

"Hey, where did the new couple go?" Emma asked.

Ruth turned to look at the area they'd vacated. "No idea."

"Maybe they finally saw Harry glaring at them, and felt it would be appropriate to carry on the show somewhere a little more private, like the stationary cupboard perhaps!" Emma joked, though she had a feeling that she might not be too far from the truth.

"Where did they go?" Tariq asked Sasha, also noticing Dimitri's and Erin's absence.

"Probably the stationary cupboard," Sasha said with a grin.

"That would be the ultimate cliché," Tariq commented.

"I doubt he'd be too bothered about that, if he is getting lucky tonight," Sasha replied.

"True, if he is, we're never going to hear the end of it though, are we?"

Sasha laughed. "No never! He's going to be so pleased with himself."

"Perhaps we shouldn't have encouraged him so much. Still at least we don't have to watch it happening over CCTV footage," Tariq joked.

However, Sasha was not amused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tariq looked up to see his colleague's angered expression. He hadn't meant to provoke him; it was just meant as banter in response to Sasha's earlier comments.

"Mate, I didn't mean…" Tariq began.

"Well what did you mean then?" Sasha asked, feeling his temper flare up. He knew he shouldn't take the jibe so personally, but it was a memory that he'd been trying to suppress, and one that he could really avoid being readdressed by his workmate.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything, just forget I did," Tariq insisted, desperately trying to diffuse the situation.

"But you did, so what were trying to say Tariq?" Sasha glared down at him.

"Nothing, it was a bad joke, a low strike. I didn't intend to upset you," Tariq vowed.

"I'm not upset! Why should I be? Emma was working, she had to do it," Sasha said, mainly for the benefit of himself.

"I know, exactly, which is why it was a terrible joke. I really am sorry man," Tariq apologised once again.

Sasha however, was unwilling to forgive. "Whatever," he muttered, as he stormed off.

"Sasha!" Tariq called out.

Sasha stopped abruptly to turn and warn him: "Look, leave it, ok, and just be thankful that you're not nursing a broken nose right now."

Tariq bowed his head and did as he was told.

By this point, some of the other guests had noticed the commotion, including Emma. She reached out to grab Sasha as he stormed past her, but he shook her off, and proceeded to head towards his father's office.

"I better go after him," Emma excused herself.

Ruth nodded. Harry came over to join her. "I guess now wouldn't exactly be the best time to initiate a father-and-son bonding session."

"No, perhaps not," Ruth agreed. "Do you know what happened?"

"No, perhaps it was the mince pies; they're enough to send anyone over the edge," Harry said dryly.

"Yes, MI5 may be many things, but its specialty is most certainly not catering," Ruth agreed, also having noted the poor quality of the refreshments for the evening.

"I wouldn't even feed any of this to Scarlett," Harry commented.

"Hmmm, but you do spoil that dog though," Ruth replied.

Harry shook his head, though he let out a gruff chuckle, as Ruth was right, of course.

"Sasha, talk to me," Emma pleaded, with her boyfriend, who was stood in silence at the back of the office facing the wall. "What happened?"

"It was Tariq, he was being a prick," Sasha admitted, still turned away from his girlfriend.

"What did he say?" Emma asked, walking up to stand beside Sasha.

"He just made a joke about the Khan operation from the other day," he revealed.

"Oh," Emma sighed, having hoped that that was behind them. "Well he probably didn't mean anything by it. You know what Tariq can be like; sometimes he just says stuff without thinking. It comes with the nature of being such a genius."

"I know," Sasha said, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

"Don't let it bother you," Emma told him as she rubbed his shoulders to try and relieve his stress.

"I'm trying but I just can't," Sasha admitted.

"Why not? I thought we'd been over all this," Emma cried in exasperation.

"I know, it's just I didn't realise working with you would put so much stress on our relationship," Sasha said.

"What?" Emma asked incredulously, upset and a little shocked that her boyfriend felt that way.

"It's not just the Khan thing, I mean ever since I joined Section D, things have been a little strained don't you think?"

Emma didn't respond. She didn't know what to say. She knew that they had been arguing a little more than usual, but she hadn't thought of it as being anything too serious.

"Initially I just put it down to it being new and different here and the pressure of working for my father but maybe…" he started.

"It's me," Emma finished off his sentence for him.

"No, I didn't mean…" Sasha began, struggling to find the words to explain, "it's just you seem to have been acting…differently lately, more distant. I worry that's because I've pushed you away."

"I've been ill," Emma said.

"I know, but it's not just that. You must see it too, that we're not as close as we were before I joined here," Sasha said.

"What are you saying, Sasha?" Emma asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"I don't know," Sasha admitted. "What do you think?"

"I like working with you," Emma said honestly. It had been stressful at times, and the Khan operation had been particularly testing, but overall she had enjoyed having the support of her boyfriend in the workplace each day. She had had no inclination that he might have felt differently, which she guess, did actually prove his point somewhat.

"Then why have you been so…odd lately? If it's not down to us working together, then what is the reason?" Sasha asked.

Emma looked into his eyes; he was waiting for an answer. She had no excuses prepared. She needed to tell him the truth. She had to tell him now. She had no choice.

Emma tried to blink back the tears that were once again accumulating, and took a deep breath. Her head dropped to face the floor and she closed her eyes before proceeding.

"It's because…" she started, and then gulped, "I'm pregnant."

Emma had barely whispered the last part of the sentence, it was almost inaudible. But Sasha had heard.

His head was spinning; thoughts were whirring round his brain a mile a minute. He was struggling to keep up. He couldn't believe it. He didn't understand; as far as he was aware Emma had been on The Pill. _Was she sure? Had she taken a test? How far gone was she? Who else knew? What were they going to do?!_ He had so many questions, but they would have to wait. For his girlfriend stood before him, shaking, as tears streamed down her face. She didn't need his questions right now, she just needed him.

Sasha took Emma into his arms, and held onto her tightly. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back as she cried hopelessly into his shirt. He kept telling her: "It's going to be ok, don't worry."

He didn't quite know how it would be ok, but he would make it, somehow.

**A/N: How's that for a dramatic chapter? **

**So Sasha knows at last, and he's planning on being the supportive pillar of strength that Emma so desperately needs at this time...**


End file.
